


Keep Your Heart Marching in Time

by LanxBorealis



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Marching Band, Bill is also an asshole, Bill is such a dork in this I cannot stress enough, Bill plays the flute, Bulimia, Chubby Dipper, Dipper plays the sousaphone, Falling In Love, Fat Shaming, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Human Bill Cipher, M/M, Music, Mutual Pining, No Plot/Plotless, Overweight Dipper Pines, Self-Acceptance, Trans Dipper Pines, Vomiting, and being huge dorks together, no magic, shy Dipper, slow-ish build, this is literally Bill and Dipper in marching band
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-06
Updated: 2016-07-13
Packaged: 2018-04-07 22:40:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 35,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4280604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LanxBorealis/pseuds/LanxBorealis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How had Bill not noticed how cute the new sousaphone player was until now?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Evening Rehearsal

**Author's Note:**

> I quite literally should not be working on this at all. I should be working on Life is a Fairy Tale. 
> 
> But this had to be written. Has no one seriously haven't thought of this before?

Bill sighed, shifting his weight from foot to foot.

He had been standing here for ten minutes.  _Ten!_ All because the stupid trombone section didn't know how to march.

You'd think the way the drilled everything in every second of every day some people would eventually pick up on how to put one foot in front of the other in time to a simple beat.

That wasn't the case, however.

Miffed and unable to sit down, not that he wanted to anyways considering the turf, Bill fingered some of the keys on his flute some, staring around at some of his fellow flute-players, who were looking just as annoyed as he was.

Bill turned his eyes from his fellow section to around the field. Just like the flutes, every other section was looking a bit annoyed at being forced to stand while the trombones were retaught the basics. Trumpet players whispered loudly to one another while saxophones took turns passing a bottle of water around.

However, neither the talking nor spit-swapping grabbed Bill's attention. No, it was the sousaphone player he had never seen before, standing rigidly, eyes front, trying his best to keep his position.

Bill felt his lips twitch a bit. Kid must be a freshman if he was acting so uptight. Sure, the directors said that you had to be looking "top-notch" all the time, but that didn't mean you had to stand in that position the entire time!

Bill couldn't help but chuckle, eyeing the brunet.

The kid was cute. There was no denying that. He had a soft, circular face and even from his position Bill could see the large, liquid brown eyes. His hair was just as equally brown and fluffy, a blue and white trucker's cap pulled down low to block out the heat. He wasn't wearing much- just the standard gray shorts and a faded orange tee-shirt.

The kid wiped his hands on his shorts nervously while puffing his cheeks.

Bill felt a smile tugging at his face. Freshman or not, Bill  _definitely_ wanted to introduce himself.

And maybe, just a little bit more...

~~0~~0~~0~~

Bill stretched briefly, popping his back before running off the field with all the others, wiping a light sheen of sweat off his brow. He didn't care if the sun was indeed going down, it was still hot and they were still doing a lot of physical exercise without enough water breaks.

He thought that was plenty enough reason to grumble and complain before nabbing some random water bottle someone hadn't grabbed yet and taking a swing.

He had stopped caring about germs a long time ago.

Dropping the nearly drained bottle, the blond readjusted his grip on his flute, propping the instrument against his shoulder before turning and pushing through the people around him, trying his best to catch an eye for the new brunet he spotted.

Bill bit his lip as he shoved a clarinet player out of his way, ignoring the other's angry protest. He had a cute boy to find and nobody was getting in his way.

 _Finally_ he caught the sight of that large golden bell, gleaming brightly under the sharp, overhead lights. It shifted around a bit, showing how the boy carrying it was trying to move, which is to say not a lot.

Bill frowned. Normally, people moved out of the way when it came to tuba players simply because of the size of their instrument, which in turn oftentimes carried over to the size of their players.

Squeezing through one last group of chattering trumpets, Bill was finally able to land his eyes on the kid he say before.

Being much closer to the boy, he could see how much smaller he was compared to the rest of the students around him.

Definitely a freshman. Either that or a really,  _really_ short sophomore. On top of that, Bill could now see the chub on the boy, mostly in his puffing cheeks, arms, and tummy, which bulged out through his baggy shirt, most likely trying to cover it up.

Bill shook his head. Somehow, the tuba player had gotten caught behind a large group of mellophone's.

Cutting through the rest of the crowd, Bill eventually made it to the kid's side.

"Looks like you're having a problem, kid!" Bill chirped right into the kids ear.

The brunet made a small, surprised sound at the too-close voice, trying to flinch away only to almost bump into a saxophone.

Bill rolled his eyes.

"Anyways, need any help?"

The kid glanced up at the much taller upperclassman, his brown eyes meeting with the other kids weird nearly gold ones.

"I- I guess." He practically whispered, obviously being a bit shy.

"HEY! GROUP OF MELLOPHONES WHO CAN'T PLAY FOR SHIT! MOVE OUTTA THE WAY!" Bill suddenly shouted over everyone, causing people around them to roll their eyes with mutters of  _Cipher_ under their breath, start laughing, or even scowl openly.

Bill ignored all of them, throwing the now insulted group one of his infamous grins.

Upon seeing it was him, the group quickly split in two, making a clear path.

"Finally!" Bill leered, grabbing a hold of the kid's upper arm and dragging him through the gap made for them. He could hear the brunet softly apologize. Well, at least try to. His voice was so quiet that Bill was sure no one else beside him could hear.

Once through the majority of the congestion, Bill let go of the brunet's arm, already missing the soft, warm, and squishy skin.

The kid absentmindedly rubbed his arm in turn, not used to being suddenly touched and grabbed by strangers.

"Um, thank you." The kid muttered, blushing slightly at  _how close_ the other was still standing to him.

"No problem!" He replied, waving him off with his hand. "Name's Bill by the way. Bill Cipher!"

"Dipper. Dipper Pines." Dipper responded, shacking his outstretched hand before shifting his instrument around on his shoulder a bit, staring up at the much taller teen. Bill had shortest, bright blond hair that fell in messy waves, covering up an entire eye. The eye visible, however was an almost golden color- something that Dipper had never really seen before. His skin was much darker than his own, with a splatter of freckles still to be seen across his nose and cheeks. He wore a simple yellow tee-shirt which was by now, partially translucent from sweat along with a simple pair of black shorts. Finishing off the look was a pair of beat-up yellow and black Nike's.

"So...are you new here or something, kid?" Bill asked at the two walked back to the school.

"Yeah, guess you could say that. Me and my sister recently moved here."

Bill raised an eyebrow. "Really? Why'd you move to a backwaters town like Gravity Falls?"

Dipper's face immediately darkened and slight panic flashed in his eyes. "Um...that's personal..." He replied awkwardly.

Bill shrugged. "Okay then. Are you a fish?"

Dipper turned and stared up at the older teen, surprised he had dropped the manor of his moving so fast.

It took a few more seconds for him to process what Bill had just asked in. Blushing and once again mentally cursing himself for his small stature, Dipper shook his head.

"Nope. Sophomore." He corrected.

Bill cocked an eyebrow at that. So the kid was only one year younger than him?

Interesting.

"Oh, so you're just short."

Dipper pouted. "I am  _not_ short. Five foot five is perfectly average!"

Bill rolled his eyes. "For girls, sure. But not for guys."

Dipper flinched back some. He knew that Bill didn't mean what he said in  _that_ case, but it was hard not to take it that way.

Seeing Dipper's face fall and his lips, which had been turned into a tentative smile fall, Bill quickly backtracked.

"Not that guys  _can't_ be short! In fact, short guys like you are pretty cute!"

Dipper scowled lightly. "I am  _not_ cute!" He retorted, thrusting his chin high in the air, ignoring the heat spreading across his face and the fact that this weird guy had just called him cute.

Bill shook his head. "But you _are_ cute-" Bill glanced at the hat the kid was wearing, more specifically at the blue pine tree decal. "-Pine Tree!" The teen finished with a laugh.

"What? Pine Tree?" Dipper protested, making a face at the weird nickname. He hadn't known this guy for five minutes and he was already giving him a nickname!

Bill poked the boy's hat. "Yup! Pine Tree! It suits you!"

Dipper rolled his eyes. "We just met and you're already giving me a nickname?"

Bill sent him a wide, beaming smile. "Sure! Why not?"

Dipper groaned and rolled his eyes, unable to keep a smile off his face.

Bill sure was weird, but that didn't mean he wasn't friendly.

The two finally reached the school, having to walk up the hill and through sharp crabgrass to reach the large and heavy metal door, which Bill pushed open with ease, holding it open for the younger boy.

Stammering a thanks, Dipper twisted his tuba around some to fit it in the doorway, not wanting to ding the smooth metal or scratch it up even more than it already was.

Bill snickered at the brunet's unease at thanking others, letting himself in and the door close on some other kids behind him without a second thought.

The blond followed the teen to the rack where all the marching sousaphones were kept. Dipper carefully wriggled out of his, setting it gently into the rack marked with his name with a little trouble, though nothing Bill had to help with. Popping off the mouthpiece, Dipper pocketed it before turning back to Bill, scratching his neck awkwardly as he fished for something to say. Now that he didn't have his instrument in the way, Dipper could fully look up at Bill, which caused another blush to rise to his cheeks.

Not only was Bill tall and thin, but he was also pretty handsome, with pointed, almost impish features.

If the blond noticed how flustered Dipper was, he didn't say anything. Only gestured him to follow him into the instrument room so he could find his case and put his marching flute up for the night.

"So Pine Tree, need a ride home?"

Dipper took out his phone and stared down at it thoughtfully. Stan had said he'd pick him up...

...But then again, it this was Grunkle Stan he was talking about.

However, if there was one thing Dipper knew, it was that you shouldn't get into another guy's car if you just met them- fellow student or not.

Even if he was kinda hot.

Dipper quickly shook his head. "I'll be fine. My Gru- I mean, Great-Uncle is going to be picking me up soon."

Bill shot him a slightly confused smile as he locked his locker up for the night. "Okay then. But here-!"

Before Dipper could say anything, Bill somehow whipped out a sharpie and wrote down a phone number across his arm in scrawling script.

"There's my cell. If he's a no show, feel free to call me or whatever, okay?"

Dipper nodded mutely.

Who gave their number to someone they just literally met?

Bill sure was weird.

"O-okay then." Dipper replied, trying his best not to ogle at the number now on him. "I-I'll do that."

Bill's grin widened. "Great! Well, I'll see you tomorrow, Pine Tree!"

"Yeah- I guess so. Bye, Bill."

Before he could even completely finish his farewell, Bill was already out the door.

Dipper sighed and followed slowly, already dialing Mabel's number. He knew Stan wouldn't pick up the land line unless the Shack was actually open, in which case it wasn't now.

"Nice meeting you." Dipper finished under his breath.


	2. Hazed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I finished Life is a Fairy Tale, this will get some more updates!  
> Currently, I have 15 other chapters planned out. If you have any ideas/suggestions/prompts, feel free to leave them!  
> I've also decided that this will be a chronological oneshot collection with maybe only a couple of chapters actually leading into one another.

Bill whistled pleasantly as he strode into the Band Hall. Sure, he was late by five minutes, but it wasn't like he would get in trouble. Call him a kiss ass all you want, being on the director's good side was plain useful.

The skip in his step faltered as soon as he entered, however at the sight of a lone figure pacing back and forth, wringing their hands together in worry, eyes misty.

"Pine Tree? What are you doing?" Bill asked, cutting his whistling off.

Dipper jumped at the sound of his name, turning and looking at Bill before flushing slightly in embarrassment.

"N-nothing..." He replied, not looking directly at him.

"I can see that." Bill said dryly. "What's the matter? You look like you're about to cry or something."

"I'm not about to  _cry."_ Dipper protested, crossing his arms over his chest and sending his best scowl Bill's way, which was more of an adorable pout than anything else.

Bill ignored the heat rushing suddenly to his own face.

"Really? Well, you look upset either way."

Dipper sighed and dropped his arms to the ground. "They took my mouthpiece. And..."

Bill cocked an eyebrow and strode forward to stand closer to the shorter boy.

"...And they did...that." Dipper pointed at his tuba rack, which currently only held his.

At first, Bill was a bit confused at what exactly the brunet was pointing out. His marching sousaphone seemed to still be in mint condition, shining a bright and beautiful gold under the artificial light.

Then, Bill's eyes traveled lower.

On the rack, Dipper's fist name had been scribbled out with sharpie in an act of vandalism and over it  _FATTY_ was written over it in big black letters. His last name got a similar treatment, with an  _E_ written over the  _I_ and an  _I_ written over the  _E,_ spelling out a certain male genital.

Bill sneered in disgust. It wasn't a secret that sections often harassed newer and usually younger members by doing simple things such as this. Bill himself had himself, after all. From giving out the wrong call time on purpose to switching music around to even locking locks backwards and upside down on lockers, which was always a struggle to get off.

And sure, he had vandalized things before. He wasn't afraid to admit it.

But Dipper was looking so upset at the sign, fists clenched at either side.

"They're right, aren't they though? I  _am_ fat." Dipper whimpered just under his breath.

Bill still caught it, however.

"Don't be ridiculous! You're  _not_ fat." The blond countered.

Dipper shook his head and went over to his tuba, lightly stroking the smooth bell. He hated that such a simple, but cruel word could make him cry. Normally, it took quite a bit to get tears flowing, but that single insult...it really was the only thing that got to him, wasn't it?

He sighed. They even took his mouthpiece. How the rest of his section was able to pickpocket it right off him was a complete mystery and instead of sad, made him angry. That mouthpiece was not just a gift from his parents, the last one he got from them, but expensive to boot.

There was no way he could replace it if they decided to keep it.

Dipper reached inside his pocket, lightly thumbing over the plastic mouthpiece they replaced it with, frowning and wishing he could just kinda punch something.

Bill sighed at the other, shaking his head. Very carefully, he sidled up to the younger, wrapping an arm around his waist in a sort of side hug.

Dipper squeaked at the sudden, warm contact, blushing deeply and stuttering a little. "B-Bill!" He cried out.

It wasn't that he  _didn't_ like the contact, it was the fact that he  _did._ More than he should have, considering he just recently met the other. But Bill was very warm and though he was very skinny, still soft in a way.

The other was  _comforting._

Bill chuckled at the boy's small noise. He really was cute, wasn't he? Almost like a kitten.

After a few seconds, the blond unwound his arm from the other. He turned Dipper towards him and bent down slightly, carefully tilting the other's face so their eyes met.

"You are  _not_ fat. You are  _fine._ No, you are  _cute."_

Though Dipper pouted at being called  _cute_ once again, that didn't dim the blush on his face, nor did it prevent the self-hate from washing away.

"R-Really?" He asked.

Bill chuckled once again. "Really. Now, you get your tuba on and I'll go grab my flute. We're already ten minutes late, don't want to make that longer than it has to be.

Dipper's eyes widened in horror. "Oh, god you're right!" He stumbled away from the blond, turning to get his instrument. "We're going to be in so much  _trouble..."_

Bill rolled his eyes and went to unlock his locker, putting his flute together in seconds.

Sure, the directors would normally yell and embarrass them in front of the rest of the band, but he was a favorite and with a few smooth words and some flattery, Bill knew they'd be fine.

He wasn't worried.

The blond smirked, eyes flashing dangerously as he left the locker room, jogging across the room to reach Dipper, who was waiting for him by the doors.

But he knew a few people who should be.

~~0~~0~~0~~

Bill growled, raising his fist to the other who was now cowering on the ground, gripping his bruised jaw and looking up at him in shock and slight fear.

Bill sneered down at the kid- Tyson Flan- the tuba section leader and the one who came up with the vandalization idea.

Bill knew he must look a bit terrifying right now, with mad giggles spilling through his lips, which were stretched into an almost comical grin, all teeth bared. Blood dripped from his temple from when the fucker drew a blade in surprise. Tyson had been able to just nick him by the time Bill was able to get the knife away from him.

"W-what the  _hell_ is wrong with you? It was just a little joke! A prank! Everyone goes through it- even you, you hypocrite!" Tyson yelled out in anger. Though he was much thicker and more built than the blond, Bill had the advantage of speed, surprise, and being scary.

Brute strength didn't always will out, after all.

"Sure, but that was much too far for an obviously shy kid like him. Do you have  _any_ common sense whatsoever?" Bill retorted, drawing back some.

Tyson pushed himself up into a sitting position and looked down a bit guiltily. He hadn't  _really_ mean to hurt Dipper. It was a joke! A harmless joke! Really!

"I didn't know it would hurt him all that bad." Tyson replied, voice small.

Bill snorted. "Well, that doesn't mean shit."

Tyson sighed. "I know, I know- look, I'll apologize, okay? Just- could you just leave me alone?" The student said, glancing up at Bill's scowling face once again.

Normally, Cipher was a total dork, filled with bad jokes and worse puns.

The whispers about him having a bad side...

...Well, they weren't exaggerating, were they?

"Fine. But make sure this doesn't happen to him again. And give him his mouthpiece back." Bill ground out before spitting on him and storming away, hands clenched into fists, one sporting a bloom of purple already.

~~0~~0~~0~~

"Hey, uh, Dipper?"

The smallish brunet jumped in shock hearing his name. He whipped around and looked up at his section leader, Tyson.

"Um, y-yes?" He somehow squeaked out, already intimidated by the other. Not only was he older than him by two years  _and_ the best sousaphone player in Gravity Falls High, but also built with thick muscles and still stood over him by a few inches.

Tyson winced a bit at the obvious wide-eyed fear the kid displayed. He didn't know that prank would...hurt him so much. Looking at the kid closer, he could easily read the brunet's emotions in his liquid brown eyes. Shy awkwardness radiated outward and Tyson felt even worse about himself and the entire situation than before.

He thought the kid could handle it. He seemed so serious before, but now looking closer, it was easy to see the sensitivity shining through.

Now Tyson  _really_ felt like a dick.

"Here." Tyson reached into his pocket and pulled out Dipper's mouthpiece, which was also recently cleaned. "Look, uh, I'm sorry for taking your mouthpiece and, uh, I'm sorry for what I wrote. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings or anything." He said awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck.

Dipper took the mouthpiece from him gently, smiling down and rubbing the pads of his fingers over the shiny metal. "Th-thank you. I-It's fine!" He choked out.

Tyson shook his head. "No, it wasn't fine, and I'm sorry for that. I, uh, went ahead and replaced your name tag, by the way. Good as, uh, new."

Dipper nodded his head and gave the older boy a watery smile he didn't deserve.

Little did Tyson know however, the same thoughts were running through Dipper's mind.

"And, uh, you can keep the plastic mouthpiece. It's useful for games and stuff. Don't want to, uh, lose your good one. Okay?"

"Okay. Thank you." Dipper said, voice quiet.

Tyson scratched his arms, feeling even more awkward than before.

This kid  _really_ couldn't hold up a conversation, could he?

"Well, if that's that...I'll see you around."

Tyson turned and fast-walked away, just glad to be out of that pressuring situation.

Dipper blinked as he watched the other boy practically run off. Snorting softly, he pocketed the mouthpiece.

He knew that the older boy didn't just come to his senses and magically feel bad about what he did and considering the shiner he had patterned over his jaw, someone had decided it was their job to remind the guy how to be a decent human being.

"Heya, Pine Tree!"

Dipper's weak smile turned full as he whipped around to see Bill swaggering up to him, wide grin plastered on his face, his single, oddly-colored eye sparkling under the lights of the Band Hall.

Dipper's attention quickly zoomed into the band-aid the other had on his forehead.

"Hey Bill." Dipper greeted cheerfully.

Someone had taught Tyson on how to be a decent human being.

Dipper closed the few steps that were between him and Bill, wrapping his arms around the other in a brief, two second hug that made fire run through his cheeks and caused Bill to laugh and poke him in the face playfully in return as he pulled away.

And considering he had only told one other person what happened, it was safe to assume what had happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this is why hazing is a bad idea.
> 
> Well, not all hazing. Our band has a tradition where the upperclassmen will "kidnap" freshman really early in the morning, (like around 5 or something) waking them up using things such as clashing high notes, water guns, air horns, and etc. and take them out to breakfast, normally to an IHOP or something. Of course, the parents are aware that this is going to happen. Every section does it except trombones because a few years back, they literally kidnapped people, renting out a white van, tying them up, gagging them, and etc. They went the whole nine yards.
> 
> Now they are permanently banned.
> 
> Anyways, I want to note that I play the Clarinet, not the Tuba or the Flute. If I get any information about either instruments wrong, feel free to correct me!
> 
> I hope you guys enjoyed this next chapter! There won't be daily updates as I'm working on editing Life is a Fairy Tale, currently rewriting a story over on fanfiction.net, planning out Limbo is a Legend, and also writing out some Rev!Dipifica prompts for my collection. That's a lot of stuff so yeah...no daily updates.
> 
> As always, thanks for reading!


	3. On Your Dot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter didn't exactly turn out how I wanted, but I still kinda like it nonetheless.

Dipper sighed as he stared around him, shifting his feet a little.

The evening sun beat down on his back, just as hot and tired as he was. Few clouds hung in the darkening sky and the barest of orange streaks could be seen as the heavenly body made it's slow descent to the ground, ready to sink and be swallowed by the Earth, only to rise and be birthed the next bay.

Dipper shook his head. Only the truly bored turned their heads to the sky and described it in their head.

Then again, Dipper was truly bored at this moment.

He didn't know how long he'd been standing in the same position waiting, but he figured it hadn't been long. When it came to rehearsals and waiting for people to actually understand what they were supposed to be doing, time didn't tick by at all. What felt like an hour was actually only five minutes and the realization that there was still two hours left made one want to simply lay down and give up forever.

And this time, it was all because of the low-reeds. Of course. For whatever reason, they simply could not seem to understand how to maintain a curved line with equal spacing.

Dipper winced as the nearly too-loud metronome chimed back on and the director once again start counting up from one. The low-reeds marched forward and within two beats, lost any sense of a curve they might of had.

And once again, the director reset, retold, and started all over with basically the same result of failure.

Dipper huffed a little and finally relented, lifting his tuba off his shoulders to place it on the ground, just like the rest o his section did as soon as the director announced that the low-reeds would be marching alone until they got this one set right.

Dipper turned and glanced around at the other sections, the only other thing someone waiting could do. As expected, whispers were being passed around everywhere. Some saxophones were comparing parts, and even a few clarinets decided to crouch down and give themselves a rest.

"Boring, isn't it Pine Tree?"

Dipper jumped at the sound of the voice and whipped right around, glaring at Bill was was only a few feet away.

"Bill! Go back to your spot! You're going to get in trouble!" Dipper whisper-yelled, ignoring some of the snickering tuba's behind him.

Bill rolled his eyes. "I march pretty much in front of you and besides, we're not doing anything."

Dipper rubbed his eyes. Since when had Bill marched in front of him?

He shook his head, a little bit ashamed of himself. He really needed to pay more attention to his surroundings. He didn't even notice  _Bill_ , who had the brightest hair he'd even seen and the loudest, most grating voice.

"Yeah, but any second they could tell us to get back up and start again. You need to be ready for that."

Bill twirled his flute in one hand, making Dipper flinch a bit. He may not play the flute and it may be a marching one at that, but an instrument was an instrument and seeing one handled so carelessly put him on edge.

"Wow, hypocrite much? You're not exactly ready yourself, Pine Tree."

Dipper winced and glanced down at his tuba. "Oh, y-yeah..." He muttered uncertainly, his face flushing with embarrassment.

Bill chuckled at the expression.

He really was too cute, wasn't he?

"Still, you should go back to your spot."

Bill rolled his eyes. "Well, so should you."

"Bill, I  _am_ at my spot. I haven't moved at all!"

Bill cocked an eyebrow at that and eyed the rest of the formation. Though a few tubas, such as Tyson, had already wandered away to talk to people of other sections, most people were still milling about in their spot.

"I don't think so. Are you sure that's your dot?"

Dipper rolled his eyes and glanced down where he was standing, directly between the white line and the red dot marking the middle of the yard line. "Positive."

"You look a little off."

"It's a curve. We're not supposed to be straight."

"Of course we're not, though that's good to know." Bill chuckled under his breath.

Dipper blinked in confusion, not quite getting at what the blond was getting at. "My point is, I am on my dot."

Bill shook his head. "You still look off to me compared to everyone else, kid."

Dipper stomped his foot a little, getting a bit frustrated. "Yeah, because no one else is in their spot right now!"

"I can still tell, and I gotta say, you're about two inches off."

Dipper rolled his eyes and put his hands on his hips, leaning forward slightly. "I am  _not_ wrong and you can't tell the difference of a few inches."

Bill felt his face heat up a little as the boy leaned forward towards him, eyebrows drawn together and eyes tired, but sure.

God, he's only known the kid a little over a week and Bill knew he was going to be the death of him.

"Yes I can. I'm an  _amazing_ marcher with skills you couldn't even  _dream_ of."

Dipper snorted. He knew that Bill was probably one of, if not the best, marchers on the field. Kinda hard not to when said teen reminded everyone with a pair of working ears twice a day.

It still annoyed him. How his own section dealt with him was beyond Dipper's understanding.

"You're really vain, aren't you?"

Bill smirked and purposely stretched out his body, flexing the lean muscles in his arms while he did so. "Kinda hard not to be when you're as smart and handsome as I am."

Dipper blushed and turned away, hoping that Bill would take his flustered appearance for simply being over heated. "Wow. Narcissistic much?" Dipper muttered under his breath.

Bill rolled his eyes, but grinned as Dipper forced himself not to stare. He was really getting to this kid, wasn't he?

Good. This was progressing faster than he hoped.

Bill's current goal of getting Dipper to go out on a date with him within the year shrunk to within the month.

_Very_ good, if he said so himself.

"Anyways Pine Tree, you're still wrong."

"I am  _not_ wrong." Dipper snapped back, still keeping his voice low in his frustration with the other.

Bill raised his hands. "Geeze, I try to help someone for once and they bite my head off!"

Dipper wilted slightly, feeling a bit guilty at that. Bill may be a jerk, but at least he was  _trying_ to be nice and yet, he still snapped at him.

However, before Dipper could apologize for being rude, a sharp whistle pierced the air as the director waved his arms about, yelling about people talking and wandering around instead of being in their spots like they should be. Panicked slightly, Dipper abandoned Bill to hurry up and slip his tuba back on, almost dropping the instrument twice before getting the thing settled on his shoulders. Shifting around to get comfortable, Dipper fell back into his spot.

He was reprimanded and corrected three times the rest of the night for being a few inches off his dot.

For once in his life, Dipper really wanted to punch something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do any of you guys not in marching band want a guide to the terminology used? I think everything is self-explanatory, but if you guys want one I could totally make one.
> 
> On a side note, if anyone has also read my other BillDip fic, Life is a Fairy Tale (Which actually has a plot and if you haven't, you should totally go check it out *wink wink*) I've officially started editing it for all grammar mistakes, spelling mistakes, plot holes, and continuation errors. I've gotten the first four chapters done and I'm already halfway done with the fifth. Haven't changed anything plot-wise, but I thought it would be good to tell you guys that proper editing is being done! On top of that, a good portion of the sequel Limbo is a Legend has been planned out and I've already started working on the first chapter so expect that up sometime next week.
> 
> Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!  
> And, as always, thanks for reading!


	4. Watch Out!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter didn't turn out what I expected, but I still kinda like it.

Dipper sighed as he stared down at his phone, frowning heavily. The cool wind blew past him, causing him to hold down his hat so it wouldn't fly away. Shivers raced up his back and goose flesh rose to life across his skin in response to the weather. The brunet wrapped his chubby arms around himself, trying to keep his body heat in. It wasn't that it was especially cold outside or anything, being in the high seventies, but paired with the already rising moon, light breeze, and dried sweat on his body, Dipper couldn't help but feel a little chilled.

Stan was supposed to pick him up over an  _hour_ ago and the man still hadn't answered his phone calls.

He had naturally turned to Mabel's cell, but his sister wasn't responding either. Probably at another sleepover or whatever at Grenda's or something.

Dipper frowned a bit at the thought. Already, Mabel had made a number of friends here at Gravity Falls and yet, here he was, just as alone as ever.

For Mabel, talking and socializing with others had always come natural, cute guy, icy girl- it didn't matter. Somehow, Mabel was able to slip in and out of friend groups with ease, being able to talk to cheerleaders and cosplayers alike. It didn't matter what group was who and what cliche- Mabel loved it all.

However, while Mabel made fast friends and acquaintances, he continued to sit at the back of the classroom, unable to even cough out a  _hello_ to the teacher.

Quite frankly, it was totally embarrassing. The only person he'd been able to talk to normally so far was...

Bill.

Dipper blinked and slapped a hand over his face, laughing dryly. Bill. Of course. The blond did say that he could call if he ever needed a ride...

Dipper unlocked his phone again and scrolled down to his contacts, finger hovering over the button to call the other's cell.

He bit his lip, suddenly unsure.

On one hand, he needed a ride home. On another hand, Bill was kinda weird. And creepy.

On another, another hand, Stan and Mabel weren't picking up and he didn't think he could walk across town to get home.

On another, another,  _another_ hand, Bill was kinda hot.

Dipper blushed and banished that thought away. No.  _No._ He would not go down that path. It didn't matter how attractive the blond was; he was weird. And not in a good way.

And besides...someone like Bill probably already had a girlfriend or something. Plus, why would he be interested in some fat, sweaty, nervous guy?

Dipper lightly tugged on his binder, not liking the now dried sweat that had collected there.

The brunet shook his head. It was best to be the realist he was and nip this crush in the bud before it completely bloomed into something terrible.

Steeling himself, Dipper pressed down on the button on his phone. Making sure the call was going to go through, he lifted the device up to his ear, listening to the static rings.

It only ringed about four times before being picked up.

"Y'ello?" A familiar voice called out, sounding a bit tired.

"Um, Hey Bill? It's Dipper?" He posed what he was saying like a question, his anxiousness practically tangible and dripping off his tongue.

"Oh, heya Pine Tree!" Bill called out in greeting, voice becoming louder and picking it's cheerfulness right back up. "What'cha calling so late for? It's nearly ten!"

Dipper chewed on the inside of his cheek a bit before answering, utterly embarrassed though he didn't exactly know why.

"Yeah...S-Stan and Mabel aren't answering their p-phones or anything so could...could you come pick me up?"

"..." Bill didn't say anything for a beat, causing a sudden flash of panic to spark through Dipper. Of course he wouldn't just waste gas to pick him up late at night! He probably had better things to do!

He was such an idio-

"You've been waiting up at the school for nearly  _two hours_ and haven't called me before? Or tried walking home?" Bill practically shouted into the phone, worry evident in his voice.

"Um, yes?" Dipper squeaked out, wincing a little.

"You hold on right there; I'm coming to get you. Should only take about ten minutes. Actually, more like five. Just- stay put, okay?"

Dipper blinked and shivered a bit. "O-Okay?" He replied, not quite able to keep up with the pace of the conversation. He had been expecting grumbling and complaints with threats of gas money, not flat out  _worry._

The brunet ignored the seeds of hope that were planted in his chest.

After the line went dead, Dipper shut and locked his phone, slipping it back into his pocket. Grabbing his nearby blue canister of water, Dipper took a swing at the now lukewarm liquid, ignoring the weird taste water always got after hours of being out on a field. It was almost... _stale_ in a way. Sweaty, even. How water could even  _taste_ sweaty was beyond him, but that was the best descriptor he could come up with.

Setting his canister back down on the ground, Dipper leaned against the bench he was sitting on, lightly scuffing his shoes against the ground. Turning his eyes upwards, he briefly observed that milky band of stars high above, glittering brightly in the night. The moon hung low in the sky, nestled perfectly in the firmament, only a cat's claw of what it could be.

Two bright flashes of light bled from the corners of his eyes. Turning his head back to the darkened world before him, he watched as the headlights came closer and closer before screeching to a stop.

Dipper hopped up to his feet and grabbed his canister, slowly making his way to the yellow bug before him.

In all honesty, Dipper really didn't know what he'd imagine Bill's car to be, mainly because he hadn't really thought of it, but seeing the Volkswagen before him, he concluded that there really wasn't any other option when it came to the eccentric blond.

Staring into the tinted windows, Dipper pushed his nerves and anxiety down as he grabbed the handle and swung the door open. Ignoring the dusting of a blush that always took over his cheeks when Bill was around, Dipper slipped into the car, careful not to look at the blond directly, and closed the door behind him, snapping his seat belt into place.

"Hey, Bill-" Dipper started.

"You gotta be careful when getting into other's cars, Pine Tree! You didn't even check to make sure it was me. What if I was a murderer? Or a rapist? Or even worse- a  _tax collector!?"_

Dipper blinked in confusion and turned to look at Bill, opening his mouth to say something, only to fall short on his words.

Bill was staring at him with wide eyes that gleamed gold in the low lighting. His hair was still wet from a shower, causing his shockingly yellow hair to be dulled into a dirty blond. A faded black tank top hung on his frame loosely and had ridden up a little in the back, giving him a peek of his smooth dark skin underneath. Bill also donned a pair of black plush pajama bottoms covered in a bunch of little Hollywood stereotypical green aliens and UFO's. Though Dipper couldn't see his feet, the brunet figured they were probably bare.

Though Bill was worried on the brunet's lack of observation skills, he couldn't stop his mouth curving into a smirk when he caught Dipper's obvious staring and blush.

This kid was just too cute.

It was official- He was asking him out as soon as he could.

Finally catching himself in the stretched silence, Dipper's eyes snapped back to the front, blush deepening when he saw Bill's smirk out of the corner of his eye.

How  _embarrassing._

"O-Okay. Advice noted." Dipper stuttered.

Bill hummed. "Good. Don't want my favorite little Pine Tree getting cut down~!" He sang as he shifted back into drive and took off.

Dipper didn't know whether to blanch at the weird statement, or flush even deeper than he already was before curling up and try to disappear forever.

He kinda did both.

"Y-Yeah..." He trailed off awkwardly, unable to really respond to that. "T-Thanks! For picking me up. Y-You didn't have to really..." He muttered awkwardly. Unlike his sister, he had no clue on how to properly talk to other people and not make a fool of himself.

Bill rolled his eyes. "I told you I'd pick you up if you needed a ride! Really, if you need anything, just give me a call, okay?"

Dipper nodded mutely, pressing his lips into a thin line to prevent anything stupid from spilling from his mouth.

Bill glanced out of his eye, watching Dipper carefully as he made a sharp turn, flinging the boy closer to him as he cut through the parking lot and turned roughly onto the badly cracked road, flooring the gas pedal.

Dipper squealed at the sudden movement and grabbed onto Bill's arm naturally to steady himself. He turned and glared up at the blond, giving him the best scowl he could muster.

Unfortunately for Dipper, his best scowl was more like a large pout, cheeks puffed out and eyebrows drawn together in an almost hilarious expression of seriousness.

"What the hell Bill! I'm pretty sure this isn't legal!"

Bill rolled his eye and stuck out his tongue, ignoring the heat that traveled to his cheeks at the expression the brunet was giving him and how close he was. Electric warmth seemed to seep out from where Dipper was holding onto him and the feel of his mostly smooth hand sent shivers dancing across his skin.

Bill ignored the fact that he was blushing.

"Everything's legal when the cops aren't around! Besides, it helps that my mom's on the force. We'll be fine, Pine Tree!"

Finally realizing that he was leaning over and still holding onto Bill's arm, Dipper let go and leaned back against his seat, glancing outside at the dark, people-less town before him.

"I still don't think going this fast is a good idea. C'mon, Bill. Slow down, please?"

Bill grumbled but did as the brunet said, going down from his original eighty to the correct speed limit of thirty.

Dipper sighed in relief. "Do you even know where I live?" He asked. He had never told Bill his address after all...did he?

Bill shifted a bit awkwardly in his seat, a new wave of ignorable heat traveling to his cheeks.

"Er, everyone knows where the Mystery Shack is." he posed awkwardly. "It's one of the only tourist attractions here and...yeah." Bill scratched the back of his neck, feeling a little awkward for once in his entire life. He didn't want to scare Dipper away and judging on how the kid interacted with a few other people in band and him to an extension, Bill could tell that the kid was shy, overly so.

Dipper nodded slowly once more, a little weirded out, but not overly so. It made sense, after all. Grunkle Stan was... _infamous_ to say the least.

"Ah, okay. Um, if you don't mind me asking..." His voice trailed off again and Dipper stared down at the canister between his legs, frowning a little.

Bill blinked. "Yeah?" He prompted, eyes leaving the road to peer at the boy sitting shotgun to him.

Dipper swallowed thickly and continued on. "Why were you so freaked out about me being alone at school? It's not like Gravity Falls is a big town or anything..."

Bill gulped and turned his eyes forward again. "No, it's not but it's still dangerous walking around at night, especially when there's a bunch of woods all around. Like I said, murderers, rapists, and tax collectors, kid. Don't want to meet anyone of 'em out there. And we're not even calculating aliens into this equation."

Dipper's eyes widened. "Aliens? You believe in aliens too?"

Bill blinked in surprise and gave Dipper the widest grin he could muster, his too white teeth shining in the dark. He grabbed a small handful of his pants and waved it around a bit, secretly enjoying the softness between his fingers.

"Of course I do, kid! The proof is overwhelming! I thought it was obvious!"

Dipper's mouth fell open and a look of joy came over his face. "I can't believe it! I've never met anyone else who also believed in them!"

Bill rolled his eyes. "Well, of course they exist! I mean, with all the space in the universe, it's only probable."

Dipper nodded enthusiastically. "That's what I've been saying!"

Bill laughed loudly at the response, his chest filling up with a warm feeling. "I once saw a UFO before too." He added in quickly.

Dipper stared up at him with wide eyes. "Really?"

Bill nodded quickly. "Yup. Don't have any pictures, but it  _definitely_ wasn't man made! I've noticed all sorts of weird things in this town."

Dipper narrowed his eyes. "Weird as in...?"

"Supernatural."

"No way! Really?"

Bill nodded quickly. "I could tell you some stories if you want-"

"That would be amazing!" Dipper interrupted. The kid had turned and was leaning over towards him again, mocha eyes wide and glistening, smile wide and voice uncharacteristically loud and excited.

How could Bill ever think this kid was shy and quiet?

Bill turned the car and pulled up into a dirt driveway, right in front of an old wooden shack that still had a few lights on, lighting up the forested area around them.

"Well, I would tell you, but it looks like we're here, Pine Tree."

Dipper's face fell slightly as he slowly drew back both physically and mentally, crawling back into the shell of his. "Oh."

Bill bit his lip as Dipper unbuckled himself and bent down to pick up his canister of old water.

It was now or never.

 _C'mon. Just say it._ Bill urged himself.

"W-Well, thanks for the ride...Bill." Dipper murmured, awkwardly formal once again.

 _It's just a few words! Just spit it out!_ Bill practically screamed at himself.

Dipper turned and opened the car door, swinging his body around to step out.

_Just do it, stupid!_

Bill finally obeyed the voice.

"Hey, Pine Tree?"

The brunet turned and gave him a curious look, blush painted back onto his cheeks.

The sight gave Bill a bit more confidence.

"After the game Friday, you wanna go out to Greasy's with me? I'll tell you some of those stories and such.~"

Dipper flushed a little. "O-okay? Sure..." He replied quietly after a beat. The brunet desperately wanted to ask if this was a date or not, but was much to embarrassed. After all, why would Bill ask him to do something like  _that?_ He wasn't all that likable and Bill was definitely the guy who already had a girlfriend. Either that, or didn't and just liked looking up skirts and such...

Bill leaned over and grabbed the car door. "Great! It'sadatethen! See you later, Pine Tree!"

Before Dipper could completely process what Bill said in the middle, the blond had already slammed the car door shut and backed out of the driveway, whipping his car back around before speeding off dangerously into the night.

Still flushing a bit from what happened, Dipper turned away and slowly made his way back to the shack.

Bill sure was weird.

His lips quirked up into a small smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How do endings work again?  
> I guess there's a little plot now...? Eh, not really. Just wanted to get the BillDip ball a rolling!
> 
> I've had this really interesting AU idea for a while and I ended up throwing it into this monstrosity of a thing because it's already a huge mess of different ideas and head canons I like and I thought, why not throw in another one?
> 
> The idea of this AU is that Dipper is a huge conspiracy nut. Like, he's a 9/11 truther and everything and he believes that Gravity Falls is a weird and creepy town full of all sorts of supernatural stuff and constantly tries to prove the supernatural actually exists to everyone he knows.
> 
> In reality, Gravity Falls isn't supernatural in the slightest. It's just a backwater town surrounded by woods.  
> Dipper makes a journal and writes down all the "proof" he can find and often goes into the woods trying to find evidence.
> 
> Of course, most people thinks he's weird or crazy. Mabel thinks he's a bit obsessed with it all and doesn't believe him, but rolls with it anyways and Grunkle Stan loves it because he uses the kid and his ideas for the Mystery Shack, gaining new customers in the process.
> 
> I've also decided that any supernatural creature found in normal GF is just an average person that Dipper is convinced is supernatural and/or not human. Such as Bill, Jeff, Mermando, and ect.  
> That's about it, actually. Decided to throw it into here as a bit of a background interest to our two favorite dorks. Thought it might spice everything up a bit and gives me an excuse not to make stereotypical OCs.
> 
> So now we got band kids and conspiracies. Wow.
> 
> Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!  
> And, as always, thanks for reading!


	5. It's A Date, Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter just didn't want to be written, so sorry if it's terrible.  
> By the by, they go to Greasy's instead because when writing last chapter, I totally forgot it's existence and such so yeah.

Dipper blinked as he stepped outside, dodging other people as he hugged close to the wall, careful not to let his uniform scrape against the old, dirty bricks. After all, the last thing he needed was for his uniform to get scratched up or dirty.

Biting his lower lip, Dipper tried his best to move out to the back of the school without running into anyone else. A cooling wind blew past him, causing him to slap a hand to his forehead to keep his bangs from blowing in the wind. He really wished he could bring his cap to games.

Shivering from the air touching his drying sweat, Dipper continued to scan the darkened area for a familiar head of bright blond. His heart pounded in his chest and his gut tightened the longer he went without seeing the other. After all, he'd been worrying about this moment since Bill had asked him only a few days ago and his stress had only gotten worse since the game started. After all, what if this was a prank or something? What if Bill had been joking or what if he came to his senses last minute during the game and realized that he was gross and fat and stupid and no fun to be around at all as his voice was  _still_ too high-pitched and...and...

A heavy hand clapped him on the shoulder.

"Heya, kid! I've been looking for you  _everywhere._ Ready to go?"

Dipper squeaked and jumped in surprise, tearing away from the older boy to stumble around, peering up at the familiar face of Bill Cipher. Though his presence calmed some nerves down, it also gave birth to new anxiousness and fear. After all, this was  _Bill Cipher._ The boy a number of girls trailed after, the boy other's were either jealous or even a bit fearful of, for whatever reason.

The boy who, for whatever reason, was incredibly interested in him.

Flushing slightly at his thoughts and grateful that his sunburn was covering it up, all Dipper could do was nod feverishly at the other, eyes blown wide.

Bill's wild smile seemed to soften as he wrapped an arm around his shoulders, careful not to press down too hard on the uniform's shoulder pads. "Okay...looks like you have everything, and I of course have everything, so let's get this show on the road! Literally!"

Dipper chuckled at the lameness of his joke and relaxed ever so slightly. Dodging around other students and being steered carefully by Bill, who wasn't afraid to shove other people to the side unlike him, the two eventually made it down to the parking lot where Bill's yellow bug was located. Breaking away from the shorter boy, Bill put down his hat box, popping it open to fish his car keys out. Glancing over his shoulder inside, Dipper found not only his hat, but also music, trash, and old candy wrappers stuffed inside.

"You're not supposed to eat candy at games. Or keep food in your hat box." Dipper said automatically before slapping his hand over his mouth, redness creeping up to his ears. He sounded like a wimp saying that!

The sneer Dipper braced for never came. Instead, Bill tipped his head back and  _laughed,_ blond hair falling out of his face for once, showcasing Bill's still closed other eye for once.

Straightening himself back out, hair falling into place, Bill snapped his box shut, keys in hand, and clapped Dipper on the shoulder. "You are just too much, Pine Tree! Of course I'm not supposed to! But in all honesty, I also don't care! Now, how about we get a move on to Greasy's, okay?"

Dipper nodded, trying his best to ignore how nice the weight of Bill's hand was on his shoulder and followed the other to his car, throwing his own hat box in the back alongside Bill's and climbing into the seat a bit awkwardly, cursing the bulkiness of the uniform and his own larger than normal size.

Once situated, Bill took no time at all in starting the car and turning on some old punk rock. Gripping the wheel with one hand, Bill maneuvered the car out of the parking spot and into a long line of cars fighting to get out and to their respective homes.

Dipper internally sighed in relief. By the looks of it, Bill only drove like a maniac when he could get away with it.

He wasn't so sure what to think of this.

Once away from the school, Bill spun the wheel, jerking them down an empty side road to were the famous diner was. Throughout the ride, Dipper had his lips pressed into a thin line, hands gripping the seat underneath him tightly, brain scrambling for some sort of small talk, but unable to find the courage to say anything at all. Music filled in the awkward silence easily enough and Dipper was grateful for it's distraction.

Out of the corner of his eye, Bill watched Dipper carefully, taking in his tight expression. His own heart was beating faster than it should be and his gut was tying itself into small knots. What exactly was he supposed to say to him? How was he supposed to start a conversation? Biting his lip and tightening his grip on the wheel, Bill pushed his car to go faster, wanting to get to Greasy's already. The faster he got out of this car, the better.

Pulling up into the driveway, Bill shut the ignition and the music was abruptly cut off, bringing voice to the awkward and still silence between them.

"So!" Bill shouted suddenly, clapping his hands together and startling Dipper all at once. "You, uh, ready?"

Dipper blinked and blushed some. Next to him, Bill was grinning widely, single eye sparking with an intense inner light.

Dipper wondered how Bill could be so outgoing and relaxed with other people.

Feeling as though his tongue was stuck to the dry roof of his mouth, all the brunet could do was nod as he opened the door and stumbled out of the car.

Walking around to meet Bill at the front, the two of them strode into the small, mostly abandoned diner.

Though the diner itself was rundown, it still had a certain rustic charm to it. Red booths stained and ripped paired with cleaned tables. The place had a perpetual scent of maple syrup mixed with apple cider, a strange smell but not exactly an unpleasant one.

Bill lead them over to a nearby booth. Slipping into the seat across the blond, it didn't take long for a plump old woman wearing a bit too much blue eye shadow to trot over, an easy and relaxed smile gracing her lips.

"Hi! Welcome to Greasy's!" She greeted in her drawl. "I see you came back from tonight's game. Who won?"

Bill gave the woman an easy smile back. "We did for once, actually. It was pretty great, actually."

The woman, who Dipper vaguely remembered was called Lazy Susan, continued to grin at the two of them. "How exciting!" She remarked. "So, drinks?"

"A coffee would be great." Bill ordered, playing around with the menu that had already been sitting in front of him. "What about you, Pine Tree?"

Dipper stared up at the boy. Was Bill  _seriously_ getting  _coffee_ at this hour? He'd never fall asleep! Still, Dipper kept his mouth shut about that and muttered something about orange juice, feeling awkward and embarrassed. Why couldn't he order a drink without screwing up somehow?

Writing down their orders and promising to return shortly, Lazy Susan wandered away.

"Sooo..." Bill drawled, tapping his fingers against the table top, glancing around the diner. "How was the game for you?"

"Oh! Um, okay? Good? I guess? I mean, we won and I marched my spot perfectly during half-time, so...yeah."

Bill nodded at that. "Same, though I am kinda pissed that some clarinet's left their dirty, broken reeds around. Guess who got roped in to help pick those nasty things up? Me! Ugh."

Dipper couldn't help but chuckle at how over the top Bill was currently being, waving his arms around some and rolling his eyes, pulling faces.

"That's really gross!" Dipper commented, turning part of his attention back to his menu.

"So, what are you getting? I'm thinking pancakes with extra syrup  _and_ whip cream."

Dipper frowned and discreetly poked at his stomach. Though his uniform did an amazing job smoothing out his form some, he still looked large.

"Oh, um... I don't eat sugary foods."

Bill blinked once.

The twice.

"Whaaaaat? He cried out, dragging out the  _a_ for a longer time than necessary. "But sugary foods are the  _best!"_

Dipper curled a single arm around himself. "Oh, uh, I just don't like sweet things." He lied. "Makes me a bit sick."

"Oh, okay. Understandable." Bill replied, slight pity in his voice.

The sympathy in the blond's voice made Dipper's gut twist painfully in guilt.

"I think I'll just get some fried eggs and some fruit. That sounds good."

Bill frowned at that. "That's not a lot of food..."

"Eh, I'm not super hungry. Ate a snack at the game." Dipper continued to lie, hoping that his stomach wouldn't make a particularly loud growl in that moment.

It didn't.

"Sooo..." Bill said again after Lazy Susan brought their drinks and got their orders. Leaning forward on the table, Bill squinted at Dipper. "Do you know Jeff?"

"Jeff? Kinda? What about him?"

"Well, you said you're into conspiracies, right?"

Dipper straightened up and gave Bill a terse nod. "Well, yeah."

"Okay, remember how I said I notice all sorts of weird things in this town?"

"Yeah? Wait, you mean...Jeff?"

Bill nodded. "Jeff is a part of that. Listen, Pine Tree. I see all sorts of weird things go on and happen but everyone here is blinded by the lies they've grown up with their entire lives. I'll tell you what I know, but, uh, promise me you won't laugh or-"

Reaching over the table, Dipper lightly gripped Bill's hand. "Dude, of course not! I told you I believe in all of this stuff too! Why would I laugh at you?"

Bill gave the brunet a wide grin, moving his hand so his fingers were intertwined with Dippers, grateful that his dark skin hid his blush.

Unfortunately, being as pale as he was, Dipper's fluster was obvious in how red he was turning, the color reaching all the way to his ears.

The sight gave Bill both hope and confidence.

"So, um, w-what a-about J-Jeff?" Dipper stuttered, eyes staring at their hands.

However, before Bill could answer, Lazy Susan came back with their meal. Giving the two a beam and knowing 'wink,' she backed out quickly.

"Well, I have a theory that he's not actually a human."

Dipper gasped. "You mean he's a..."

Bill grinned and gestured for him to continue with his fork before putting another bite of pancake into his mouth.

"A  _gnome?"_ Dipper whispered.

Bill beamed at that, tightening his hold on Dipper's hand, eye crinkling in glee.

"You and me share similar minds, Pine Tree!"

Dipper smiled at that, blush still evident. "Well, isn't it obvious? I mean, he's really short-"

"-And has a beard already-" Bill added.

"-And wears lederhosen-"

"-And he's not even from Germany, says he does on a dare-"

"- _And_ he wears that weird hat and hangs around large crowds! Plus he always smells bad!" Dipper finished, tongue poking out from between his lips.

Bill nodded fervently. "Exactly!" He cried out.

Dipper took a bite of his eggs. "You think we're on to something?"

"Yeah, I think we are. I've been working to try and solve these weird mysteries of this town, but so far...we, doing it alone has been slow going so I...was, um wondering if you would like to help me? Sometime in the future?'

Grinning and swallowing an apple slice, Dipper squeezed Bill's hand. "That would be great!"

Bill's eye practically sparkled at the thought.

"So, um..." Dipper started up again after a slightly awkward pause. "Does this make us...friends?"

Though Bill continued grinning on the outside and gave the boy a sharp and joyful affirmative, on the inside he wilted a bit.

After all, he never really told Dipper this was a date now, did he? Then again, he thought the kid would get the hint.

Though the fact that he didn't did make his stomach turn and his heart hurt a little is disappointment, it didn't deter him.

He and Dipper will go out on a proper date.

On day.

On day  _soon._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long. I had Band Camp and...yeah that's it. Horrible thing, really. On top of that, school is starting too so I have no idea when the next chapter will be up for this.   
> Next chapter will be longer, however. I promise you guys this.
> 
> Oh! And on a side note, this story is now officially planned out. There will be 30 chapters as you can tell, and more tags have been added. Rating will probably change to an M, but I have no clue. Matters on how detailed the smut is and such.   
> As for story, here will be a few small plot points here and there that connect, but no real plot here. However, there will be a lot of fluff and feels in the future, so brace yourselves for that.
> 
> Anyways, I hope you guys liked this kinda bad chapter that just didn't want to come out.  
> And, as always, thanks for reading!


	6. Same Old, Same Old

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New tags, so please read them! They are important! 
> 
> Yay! This is finally out! Didn't turn out exactly how I wanted, but I think it's okay. The ending's a bit rushed, but I have homework to do and I wanted to get this done before starting that.

Dipper growled under his breath as he wrestled his locker open, the metal hinges creaking and screeching the entire time.

He could still feel sweat beading his brow, trickling down his neck and caught in uncomfortable places. Morning practice had been particularly brutal; he had missed his spot more times than he could count, had to do seventy push-ups from the entire band talking and making mistakes, and played in a rest twice.

Plus, due to people taking way too much time, he hadn't been able to find a clean stall to change in inside the bathroom.

Shifting a bit in his sweaty clothes, Dipper wrinkled his nose as he pulled out a needed textbook and tucked it awkwardly under one of his arms. He wanted change his clothes and put some deodorant on or something, but he had no time. Besides, once lunch rolled around, he'd be perfectly cooled off and dry.

He'd just have to deal with feeling gross for a little while.

Finally getting his locker closed and locked after only three rumbling slams, Dipper turned back to the busy hallway. Eyes wide with worry and dread already curling in the pit of his stomach at the thought of being shoved and pushed, he joined the flood of the crowd.

Dipper did his best to keep to the wall of lockers as best he could. Sure, he had to side step kids and nearly trip over tons of objects, but it also gave him enough space for him to squirm away if needed.

Hissing at the feel of an elbow in his side and wincing at the sound of loud voices and irritating laughter, Dipper was finally able to break from the crowd and dive into his English class with ease. Resisting a sigh of relief, the brunet shuffled over to his desk at the back, eyes glued to the floor, heart pounding in hope that no one was looking at him at that moment.

Lowering himself into his seat, Dipper briefly glanced upward to peer around the class. Visibly relaxing when he saw no eyes on him, the brunet pulled out his binder and took his pen out of his bag, clicking softly in anxiousness as he waited for the class to start.

"Could you stop yer pen clicking? Ugh, people are _rude!"_

Dipper jumped at the voice, cheeks flushing in embarrassment at the voice while his stomach tied itself into dreadful knots. Teeth already grinding against the inside of his cheek, the boy stared diagonally to the left, at the surprisingly babyish face staring back at him. The other boy was shorter than him and pudgy with stark white hair gelled up in an admittedly impressive pompadour.

"S-sorry…" Dipper stuttered, taken aback.

The boy just rolled his eyes and wrinkled his piggish nose at him. "Eh. whatever, smelly."

Dipper jerked as the boy turned back around. A small. angry fire burned in the pit of his stomach and Dipper knew if he were just a bit more eloquent with words and had the courage to, he would call out on the other for being rude himself and unnecessarily mean.

However, Dipper had neither the words nor the courage. Instead, his hands shook and his heart clenched deep in his chest. More sweat now trickling down the side of his face, he balled his shivering hands into fists and shoved them down into his lap. His teeth gnawed on his bottom lip, breaking the already rough skin, but not causing blood to bead. Mind falling blank, Dipper completely missed the teacher's greeting to the class as well as the assignment given to him.

Even as he got his papers and started working on analyzing the boring poem given to him, Dipper's thoughts still occupied what was just spat to him, the moment playing over and over in his head, taking root and festering, ingraining itself into his deeply and not allowing anything else to bloom.

It made him sick to his stomach, but at the very least he stopped trembling.

Dipper made a small noise of discomfort at the small growl his stomach made. Head jerking up from his work, eyes wide, the brunet peered around the room.

No one was paying any attention to him.

He sunk down in his seat in relief.

Good.

Still, Dipper gripped his pen tighter at the hunger that clawed in his belly. Wrapping an arm around himself, he hunched over even more and shook thoughts of food and eating from his head.

He didn't want to focus on that now. He didn't ever want to focus on that part of himself.

Clearing his thoughts, he went back to his work, pen scratching methodically.

He nearly let out a noise of joy once the bell rang.

~~0~~0~~0~~

Dipper did his best to ignore his growling stomach as he padded carefully into the lunchroom, right behind the mad crowd of hormonal teens. Besides that small incident in English he still couldn't quite get out of his mind, his day had gone by smoothly. Math was always a pleasure; falling deeply into the simply mechanics. No critical thinking, no decisions. Right or wrong. There was no between when it came to numbers.

And for him, that was simply perfect.

Wrapping his arms around himself in an effort to make him look smaller, he peered around the room for the familiar face of his sister, only to jump at the feeling of a large hand clapping him on the shoulder.

"I didn't know you had this lunch, Pine Tree!" A familiar voice rang out behind him.

Dipper couldn't help but jump. Twirling around, he let out a cry as his foot hit his ankle. causing him to stumble spectacularly.

"Whoa there!" Bill called out, catching him around his waist and steadying him, grunting softly at the weight of him.

"Bill!" Dipper replied in surprise, cheeks aflame again as the other kept an arm wrapped around him. Bill's grinning face bleed into his visage, eyes bright and warm.

"Well, you know..." Dipper trailed off awkwardly, hands spinning in a vague gesture.

Bill simply laughed at that, as if Dipper had said the funniest joke in existence. Moving his arm so it sat across Dipper's shoulders, the older teen started to drag him to another table.

"Sit with me!" The blond cried out, turning and forcefully maneuvering Dipper to a nearby table and sitting him down across two other people who seemed to be amidst in an argument of some kind.

Dipper opened his mouth to explain to Bill that he always sat with his sister and her friends and how they were probably looking for him _right now._

However, as the couple before him broke off their current argument about frozen pizza and turned to him, the brunet felt his words get lodged in his throat, trying to choke him with their awkwardness and need to say something, _anything,_ but still being unable to.

Bill, keeping his arm wrapped around his shoulders, gave him a helpful squeeze, shocking him back into his senses and causing his throat to loosen. Relaxing ever so slightly into the hold, he pressed his lips into a thin line.

"Hey Bill." The female half of the duo before him smirked, running her fingers through her blonde and blue hair. Her vivid green eyes darted over to Dipper, trying not to stare questioningly, but being unable to help herself. "Who's yer friend?"

Dipper blinked at the surprisingly strong southern accent she had, but said nothing about it.

"This here is Dipper Pines!" Bill stated joyfully, his grin widening to fully split his face into two. "He moved in from California a while ago."

Dipper shyly raised his hand and waved his fingers at the two, cheeks blossoming pink at his obvious awkwardness.

"Nice ta meet'cha, Dipper!" The girl told him cheerfully, a small smile gracing her lips. "I'm Penny Gram, but you can just call me Star. Everyone else does."

"Nice t-to meet you too…" He trailed off awkwardly, hands clenching the fabric of his pants up.

She gifted him a wider smile. "And this here-" She started up, grabbing the arm of a guy currently trying to stuff a sandwich into his mouth and shaking him around, "Is my boyfriend, Tad Strange. Sorry about his manners, he was raised in a barn. Literally."

Tad swallowed down a large bite of his wheat sandwich and gave Star a half-hearted glare. "You know, that joke was only funny the first hundred times." He said dryly, his voice surprisingly deep.

Dipper blinked and looked between them. Looking at Tad's perfectly parted hair and crisp button up, he would have never expected him to be from a farming background then again, not everyone is how they seem on the outside.

Dipper wrapped his arms around himself even more, fingertips brushing the edge of his binder through his shirt.

"Nice to meet you as well..." Dipper greeted again.

Bill chuckled. "Anyways, how was practice for you this morning?" He asked Star.

The girl wrinkled her pointed nose up in disgust. "As you would expect it to." She replied.

"Practice?" Dipper couldn't help but ask, wincing at the unwanted question as it came out.

He really needed to learn how to control himself and not be so weird.

Star, however, didn't look taken aback in the slightest. "I'm in the escadrille. Talenette." She said shortly.

"Oh!"

Bill couldn't help but hug the other boy closer to himself, enjoying the softness of him pressed against him.

Even though he hadn't made much progress in their date last week, the blond was still determined to ask Dipper out on a _proper_ date.

He glanced down at the boy, who didn't seem to be paying attention to what Bill was doing. Sure, he wasn't leaning into the touch, but he also wasn't pulling back and in Bill's opinion, that fact alone still counted as a success.

Bill smiled a bit wider as both Tad and Star slowly tried to coax Dipper out of the shell he always retreated into. Star, flipping her hands about, gleefully told Dipper in great detail what it was like to be a Talenette and how practice was like. Dipper was watching her with rapt attention, honest curiosity on his face as he listened to her.

Bill's stomach growled.

"Ugh, I'm hungry!" He said out loud, interrupting Star's speech and getting a glare from the girl. "Hey Dipper, wanna go get some food with me? I'll pay if you want."

Dipper stared up at him and gave him a small smile, one that caused Bill's heart to flutter in his chest. "Ah, no thank you, Bill. I'm not hungry."

Bill frowned at that. How was Dipper _not_ hungry? He had been out at practice all morning just like him and it's been hours since he could have eaten breakfast, so how was he not hungry?"

"Are you sure?" Tad suddenly piped up. "I have an extra sandwich...it's peanut butter and jelly on wheat…"

Star wrinkled her nose and rolled her eyes.

"Oh, thank you! But no, I'm good. I, uh, had a really _really_ big breakfast this morning."

Tad blinked slowly.

Bill's frown deepened.

Dipper shifted awkwardly in the silence he accidentally left.

"See Tad? I told you that you were the only person in Gravity Falls who actually likes wheat bread…" Star suddenly exclaimed, cutting through the silence easily with her smooth voice.

Tad snorted angrily and turned to her. "I'll have you know that wheat is _much_ healthier for you than white bread and-"

"Here they go again." Bill whispered into Dipper's ear.

Dipper giggled at that.

"Are you sure you don't want anything at all?" Bill tried again, letting Dipper go to stand up.

Much to the blond's surprise, Dipper stood up as well and stepped away from the table.

"I'm sure and besides, I have to find my sister. She left in a hurry this morning and I'm kinda worried about her."

"Well...okay then." Bill amended, fighting to keep the sadness out of his voice.

Dipper gave him another smile before thanking him along with Tad and Star, who gave the shorter boy fond farewells and reassurances that he could hang and talk with them whenever he needed to.

As soon as the brunet faded from sight, Star turned on him suddenly, knowing look in her gaze.

"What?"

Tad turned and gave him a similar look with his own gray orbs, teasing smile already curling it's way on his lips.

Bill pouted and crossed his arms. " _What?"_ He stated again.

Star couldn't help it- she burst out laughing.

"Oh god, Bill! You have it _bad_ and I can see why! That kid is so awkward and adorable!"

Stuttering and turning red, Bill scowled at her before stamping his foot and turning away to go buy some food, easily parting the crowds with the fire in his eyes.

Tad chuckled.

"Bet you he won't ask him out by the end of the month.

"You're on."

~~0~~0~~0~~

Dipper paced back and forth angrily, tears welling in his eyes as the microwave buzzed with heat.

Mabel still wasn't home, most likely due to all the clubs she joined and Stan had also decided to go out. For what reason Dipper wasn't so sure, but he was only halfway sure it wasn't something illegal.

With no one in the house, it gave the boy the perfect opportunity to take his binder off safely.

It wasn't that he cared if his family saw his...well, breasts. Stan and Mabel would always support him and he knew that. It was the fact of the matter in general.

Sighing out, Dipper winced at the sound of his stomach letting out another large snarl. Wrapping his arms around his pudgy bulge, Dipper ignored the part of his brain that told him what he was doing was wrong and disgusting and proceeded to take out the massive bowl of macaroni and cheese he had heated up for himself.

He barely even grabbed a fork and sat down before he started to ravenously dig into his food, scooping up massive mouthfuls and shoving it into his jaw, swallowing the slick and cheesy food down whole, not even trying to swallow. Tears freely leaked from his eyes as he ate, more hateful thoughts filling his mind. All the while, he continued to eat, food hitting his empty stomach harder than it normally did after three days of not eating anything.

Choking, his gut twisted up angrily as he continued to shovel forkfuls of food into his mouth, cheese smearing across his lips, macaroni dropping onto his shirt. The own sight of his hand putting food into him along with the rapidly emptying bowl caused small sobs to escape him between bites and pretty soon, he was leaning back, a complete mess, cheese smeared across his face as his hands trembled. The horrid feeling in his stomach grew stronger as his senses came back to him.

Completely repulsed by himself, Dipper shoved his chair back, careening to his feet as he gagged. Eyes bulging out of his skull, more choked whimpers and teary sobs escaped his lips as he stumbled to the bathroom.

Flinging the wooden door open, he practically fell onto the floor in front of the toilet. Ripping the seat upwards, Dipper cried out as he vomited violently, what he just ate coming right back up easily enough. Sickened even more by the site of the recently eaten food, Dipper squeezed his eyes shut as he leaned closer over the toilet, seat digging painfully into his chest as he vomited again. The sound of the slick remains hitting the water and the wretched and hideous stench simply made it worse and for a few seconds after emptying his stomach again, all Dipper could do was pant as he dry-heaved, bubbles of hysteria pouring forth from his lungs as he slammed the handle of the toilet down, flushing and clearing it.

Shivering even more now, the boy collapsed onto his side, curling up on the floor, pants still escaping him as he tried to catch back up to himself. Digging his teeth into his bottom lip, Dipper resigned to lay there as long as possible, doing nothing and thinking nothing, his mind a mess, his heart clenched, and his stomach feeling worse now more than ever.

He wasn't so sure how much time passed or how long it took for him to finally clamber to his feet to clean the dishes he made a mess of and get some new clothes, but he was laying down on the couch, eyes wide and blank by the time his Grunkle came back home.

"Heya, kid. How was your day?" Stan greeted as he mosied into the kitchen.

Dipper held back a sniff.

"It was fine, Grunkle Stan. Just the same old same old."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that happened. Am I still doing fluffy BillDip right?  
> Anyways, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter! Thanks for reading!


	7. Surprises

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why are all these chapters so short? Ah well, there will be longer ones in the future, trust me!  
> Also! I streamed the writing of this entire chapter! It was pretty great~

Dipper squeaked as Bill playfully ruffled his hair. "Bill!" He called out, voice disapproving, contradicting the curve of a smile that was appearing on his face.

The blond laughed in response, shaking his head a little, eyes crinkling in good nature. "Geeze Pine Tree, you're way too easy to startle. This isn't even all that fun anymore!"

Dipper pouted. "Good!" He responded, voice cracking with humor.

Bill cooed at him, single visible eye bright. "I take back what I said, actually! A face that adorable is totally worth it!"

Flushing, Dipper leaned away. "Well! I, um…!"

Bill laughed again, grateful that his dark skin covered up his own rosy cheeks. Standing up slowly, he threw Dipper a small smile. "Anyways, I'm going to get a muffin before practice. Want something?"

"No, I already ate this morning." Dipper said easily, gut twinging at the thought of being filled with food again after the disaster of last night.

Bill gave him a single shoulder shrug. "Okay then. Be right back!"

As the blond ran off, leaving Dipper alone again, the brunet slipped his nice mouthpiece from out of his pocket, thumbing the slightly heated metal. Sighing, he moved his fingers down it's sides. He could only imagine how expensive it was- anything related to instruments, at least nice ones that were worth something, were. Smiling fondly at the memory of receiving it from his parents- one of the last gifts he got from them before being kicked out- he pocketed it again.

Before he could look up and see where Bill was in the nearly empty cafeteria, a sharp and bright familiar blur sparkled out of the corner of his eye.

Dipper whipped around. And his mouth dropped open in disbelief.

No. Way. It couldn't be...but it was, wasn't it?

"Mabel?" He called out, eyes wide.

Mabel, who had dropped her bag- a  _color guard_ bag, swiveled around to face him. Chocolate locks flying behind her, her eyes widened in cheer at the sight of him, cheeky grin having already made it's way onto her face. "Dipper!" She cheered, bouncing over and taking the empty seat next to him. "How's my favorite brother this morning?"

"I- uh, wait! Mabel!"

"Yup! That is definitely my name!" She chirped back, eyes arched high in amusement.

"No! That's not what I meant! What are you doing here this early? Why do you have flags? What-"

Mabel leaned over and ruffled his hair with her hand, laughter tinkling from between her plump lips. "Because I'm in color guard now, silly!"

"Since when? We've already started our UIL show, how'd you get in?" Dipper asked as he batted her hand away.

She laughed again and rolled her eyes. "I have my ways."

Dipper frowned at that, but decided not to press the matter. After all, this wasn't the first time Mabel had somehow got into something or done something that, quite frankly, should be impossible. At this point in his life, he had given up trying to crack the code that was his twin sister.

Mabel blinked and suddenly, she was pushing down on his shoulders, looking over his head. "Hey, Dipper! There's a hot guy coming this way!"

Dipper flushed. He already knew who Mabel was talking about and his stomach twisted up into knots in response. Oh god, Bill and Mabel together? Dipper felt horror just thinking about the two of them together.

"Pine Tree? Who's this?" Bill piped up from behind him. Though Dipper wasn't looking at him, the brunet knew that the blond was probably cocking an eyebrow at him while tilting his head to the side, grin already in place…

Dipper shook the image from his head and shoved his sister back into her seat, turning around and trying his best to not look as awkward as he suddenly felt.

"Oh! Bill-"

"So this is Bill!" Mabel cut him off. "You told me you finally made a friend, but you didn't tell me he was  _hot!"_

"Mabel!" Dipper cried out, flushing deeper and flailing his arms vaguely in her direction.

Bill simply laughed at that and took his seat across from them, unwrapping his blueberry muffin and taking a large bite out of it. "Yeah, you never told her I was hot." He agreed.

"Oh my god." Dipper moaned, dropping his head down onto the table.

"I'm Mabel!" His sister practically shouted, thrusting her hand forwards. "Alpha twin."

"Oh, don't start with that-" Dipper started up, only to be cut off by Bill this time.

"Nice to meet you, Mabel!" Bill greeted with enthusiasm, taking her offered hand in his. "So you're in color guard, huh? Just make sure you don't drop your flags during the show- three girls last year dropped them during UIL. What an embarrassment that was!"

Mabel laughed easily at that and waved her hand dismissively at him. "Me? Drop flags? Ruin the show? I'm the one that's gonna make the show  _shine!_ We're pretty much guaranteed to win that contest now that I'm part of the escadrille."

Bill threw her a sharp grin. "I'll be holding you to that. If we don't get first place, I'm blaming you."

"Oh, you're so on!"

Dipper finally sat back up, frowning some. Seeing Bill and his sister interact like this- like they hadn't just met each other and had actually been friends for years- left him with a bitter taste in his mouth, another twisting in his gut, and a hot, burning feeling in the pit of his heart.

What was this?

Bill stuffed the rest of his muffin into his mouth. "Well, we best be off the instrument room! Don't want to be late, after all!"

"Y-Yeah!" Dipper suddenly agreed, wincing at how awkward,loud, and high-pitched his voice was. "We better go." He tacked on lamely at the end, making an obvious attempt to lower his voice.

Mabel shot him a worrying look.

Bill was completely unfazed.

"Well, I'll see you two on the field then." Mabel said evenly, metal-filled smile back into place. "See you later Dipping-sauce, Bill!" With that being said, she grabbed her bag and bounced out and down the hall.

Bill chuckled at her enthusiasm. "I like your sister, Pine Tree! She seems fun to be around."

Despite the odd and negative feelings broiling in him, Dipper couldn't help but let a little laugh of his own slip out. "Yeah, she's great. She's...my best friend."

Bill smiled down at him warmly. Standing up, he waited for Dipper to join him at his side before hooking elbows with him and leading him down the hallway to the Band Hall."

"Ready for a morning full of sweaty pain and misfortune?"

Dipper laughed openly at that and swatted Bill's side. "Oh, c'mon! Morning practice isn't that bad!"

Bill snorted at that. "You're right! It's  _worse!"_ He cackled.

Dipper shook his head. "Well, if you don't like it, why not quit then?" He teased.

Bill rolled his eyes at that. "Now why would I do that? Besides, two words. Trips and friends!" The blond reached out with his other arm to poke Dipper in his squishy cheek. "Well, three words! Trips, friends, and you!"

Dipper squeaked as Bill poked him, warmth building in his chest at the fondness in the other teen's voice. "Bill!"

"That's my name, don't go wearing it out!"

Dipper rolled his eyes. "Oh my god, you're such a dork!"

"But you love me anyways!" The blond teased.

Dipper bit back a  _yeah_ of agreement and simply hummed- neither a confirmation nor a denial.

"Whatever you say, Bill." Dipper snorted, purposely look away so Bill couldn't read his face. "Whatever you say."

Dipper didn't see the light hurt in his eyes, nor the way his face fell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's where Mabel went and has been doing this entire time! Haha, more band representation! Note that I know little to nothing about color guard so if I get something wrong...sorry about that!
> 
> I like how this fic was supposed to be nice and light and fluffy, but it just turned kinda sad and angsty. I promise fluff in the next chapter! Cross my heart! Hehe, see what I did there? Heart? Yeah, I'll just show myself out...
> 
> Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this short chapter! Thanks for reading~


	8. Jiminy Cricket!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Big update! Today's my birthday, (I am now an adult...still don't feel like one at all, however!) so I've decided to update all my multi-chaptered fics as a treat to you guys! So enjoy!

Dipper's nose scrunched up as another cricket landed on his head. Waving his hand over his head, he hissed a little in pain as the back of it collided with his bell.

Well, at least the cricket was gone.

Around him, the roar of people continued to grow as the stands slowly filled up with fans from both schools, all dressed in their respected school colors. Glancing down at his own green, white, and black uniform, Dipper had to admit that the color selection of Gravity Falls High could be a lot worse.

Cranking his head up to look up the metal stairs he'd have to climb, he couldn't help but glance around. Sure, he'd been to the smell, cramped stadium that they had, complete with a track, loose screws, the permanent smell of sweat, and of course, cricket carcasses everywhere.

Dipper's nose twitched and he cried out a little as some other tuba player shoved him from behind a little. Holding onto his horn with a tight grip, he steadied his breaths and started to climb the steep and rickety stairs, feeling like he was going to fall backward every step. Keeping an eye on his already loose shoelaces, he puffed through his mouth a little as he continued to climb. For this home game, they had decided to put the tuba section at the very top of the stands, something his entire section had been happy about.

Well, his entire section minus him of course. Up that high, Dipper was afraid he'd trip and fall coming back down or even worse, he'd drop something like his phone down between the seats.

Shuffled up relatively quickly, he batted another cricket away as he was loaded up into the stands. People around him were already cheering and talking to one another in excitement and even arguing some about whether or not their team was going to win or whether or not they would have the better halftime show.

A bead of sweat trickled down the back of his neck and Dipper shifted around in discomfort. It sure was hot outside, and the natural humidity and closeness of bodies wasn't helping any.

Finally stopping at his seat, Dipper sucked in a deep breath and took a swing from the water bottle he had been given back on the ground. The cool liquid easily splashed down his throat and into his partially empty stomach. Forcing himself not to just swallow the rest of the life-giving liquid, he bottled it again and set it aside, keeping a careful eye on it the entire time.

In front of him, directors worked to get everyone else in. Speakers screeching overhead, the sounds of elation continued to crescendo as the scoreboard clock continued to count down. Falling still and silent, chubby fingers playing with his mouthpiece out of boredom, he watched idly as the tallenettes filled out onto the field, quickly catching the sight of a girl with blue streaks in her hair, mouth painted red and stretched out in a gleaming grin as she waved her sparkly pompoms around, starting a wave that went down the entire line before whipping back.

Though Dipper didn't particularly like the shortness of their skirts, he had to admit that they were all very pretty out on the field with their belts and hats and makeup. Though he knew Star wouldn't be able to see him, he still flashed a small smile at the kind girl, remembering how nice she and Tad were, so unlike most people he seemed to run into.

In front of him, flutes filled out the seats, arguing and chatting and cheering just as his own section was, though using much...nicer and less vulgar words.

"Hey! Pine Tree! You're up here!"

Dipper's eyes focused as Bill stopped in front of him, wide grin in place as his blond hair billowed around him, giving perfect sight of his two mismatching eyes- one gold and the other green. It was an odd combination to say the least and Dipper found himself staring deep into those bright eyes, a little lost in their depths.

"Pine Tree? Hey, you okay?"

"Bill, would you move down already? You're holding up the line!"

Dipper was jerked out of his dreaming as a girl snapped at the blond, flute out in front of her as if to threaten him. Bill laughed at her.

"Hell no, I'm staying here with my buddy Pine Tree here!" He leered, pointing at the tuba player in front of him. "Just go around me."

"We're not supposed to step on the seats though!"

Bill rolled his eyes. "The seats are covered in dead crickets. I doubt a little grass is going to make them even more disgusting than they already are. Just deal and move on."

The girl made a noise of annoyance, eyes rolling. Glaring at the blond, she briefly stepped up onto the seat to maneuver around the stubborn Junior.

Bill ignored the annoyed flutes that were now stepping around him in favor of staring up at the little brunet placed a seat above him. Watery smile staring down at him, the teen had to stop himself from hopping up and pressing his lips against that smile. Though Dipper's lips were clearly chapped and chewed on, Bill could easily imagine how warm and perfect they would probably feel against his.

"Ready for the game to start, Pine Tree?" Bill asked instead, leaning back on his left foot.

Dipper's smile grew wider and more true. "Yeah, I am. Heard this game will be hard."

Bill snorted. "Every game is hard. Our team sucks. Bet ya that half the people here are only here for our show."

Dipper snorted at that, shaking his head back and forth as small chuckles fell from his mouth. "Oh, Bill!"

"What? Am I wrong? No, no I'm not!"

"Okay, yeah. I'll give you that." Dipper laughed, his cheeks growing rosy.

Bill just wanted to pinch them and never let go.

Dipper's eyes turned as the last of their band was finally loaded into the stands. The countdown on the scoreboard continued to tick lower and despite the quesiness in him, Dipper couldn't help but smile brightly as the natural excitement of a game fill his veins.

Bill whipped around and their band started to prepare for kickoff, freshmen getting their music out as older members started to work at wiping the dead crickets out of their seats.

"Ready, Pine Tree? This game is going to be great, I just know it!"

Dipper laughed again and reached out to lightly brush his fingers against Bill's shoulders in a friendly pat, not knowing of the heat pooling under the blond's cheeks.

"I am. And yeah, I know exactly what you mean."

Dipper sighed. It was great sitting near a friend.

~~0~~0~~0~~

"Ah, fuck you too! Fucking cheaters the lot of them!"

Dipper winced as Tyson continued to curse out the other team. Though he didn't appreciate the vulgar language, he had to admit he understood where it was coming from. After all, they were four touchdowns down and on the defense.

Dipper shook his head. At this rate, they'd never make it to playoffs and though he didn't care about actual football much, he still wanted to be able to march and enjoy halftime.

Plus, Bill.

Dipper laughed as the blond pulled another funny face at him, crossing his eyes and sticking out his tongue comically. Dipper shook his head at him and smiled widely, feeling lighter than air in that moment. When was the last time he felt so free and happy? he had no idea.

Bill laughed as his face went back to normal. Reaching out, he rubbed the top of Dipper's head playfully. "Well, only a few minutes till we gotta go down for halftime. Are you ready, Pine Tree?"

Dipper flushed and looked away from the other, suddenly nervous. Though Bill was standing a seat below him, he was only equal to his height now- not any shorter like he had hoped.

Dipper felt himself go redder as he peeked back through his bangs to peer at Bill. The stadium lights glared behind him and his golden hair billowed in the breeze, catching and tossing away golden strands of light. Dark skin a sharp contrast on everything else around him, Dipper found his breath being taken away at the sight of how simply amazing he looked and at how infectious his laugh was. Dipper's heart twisted up in his chest. He ignored the terrible thoughts already starting to bleed back into the forefront of his mind.

"Heck yeah I am!" He yelled, grinning widely and forcing everything starting to bubble up back. Bill smirked at that and swung his marching flute around some, lightly tapping it on his shoulder. "Better not fall!" He teased lightly.

"I'm not gonna fall down!" Dipper protested with a roll of his eyes. "I'm not that clumsy."

Reaching out, Bill lightly grasped his cheeks in either hand, gently pinching them. "Oh, but you are Pine Tree! You're the clumsiest person I know!"

Dipper flushed in humiliation and bit his lip a bit.

Seeing the normally joyful face fall in front of him, panic set into Bill's heart and he backtracked quickly.

"Not that that's a bad thing! In fact, it's completely adorable!" Bill winced at the obviousness in his voice, heat pooling up under his skin again. He was sure his cheeks were now glowing pink despite his darker tone.

Dipper flushed again at the praise, his lips lifting up into a small pouting smile. Though part of him wanted to lash out at being called cute yet again, joy filled up his heart at the simple remark.

"I...um...thank you?" He couldn't help but pose it as a question, unsure on how to respond to Bill's compliment.

Bill threw his a cheeky grin and reached down to grab his hat box, popping it open to pull out his shako. As he did so, their director from the bottom of the stands yelled at them to grab what they need and get a move on for halftime.

"Look's like we're on, Pine Tree! Break a leg."

Dipper sighed. As always, he felt a little tense before a performance. As always, he knew it would fade as soon as halftime started.

"Indeed we are. And same to you!"

~~0~~0~~0~~

Dipper breathed out heavily as he unmounted his tuba and sat down back in his seat. His brown curls were plastered to his forehead with sweat and his blacks underneath his bibbers and jacket were sticking to him in too many awkward places to count. Puffing his cheeks out some, he couldn't help but smile as he took a swing from the new water bottle he had been gifted, grateful for the cooling sensation of liquid traveling down his throat during such a hot night. Waving his hand boredly as a cricket landed in his hair again, he leaned forward on his knees and took another swing of water. Capping the bottle, he set it aside.

"Hey, Pine Tree! How'd you do?" A familiar and grating voice rang out as a shock of blond hair came into view.

Dipper grinned wider, for once feeling at honest peace. "I did great! I  _didn't_ trip, I hit my spot every time, and I played through the entire movement!"

Bill's face split into a smile. Dropping his flute on his still cricket encrusted seat, he used his free hand to ruffle Dipper's hair, bringing another flush to life on his cheeks and causing him to squeak a little. Bill's hand felt so nice carding through his hair like that, after all…

"That's fantastic! See, you're getting better Pine Tree! At this rate, maybe you'll make Section Leader!"

"Oh, don't be silly Bill! I couldn't be a Section Leader!"

"Oh, I wouldn't dismiss yourself that easily, Pines. You're a pretty good player and though your marching needs a little work, you're a fast learner and dedicated. You could totally be a Section Leader if you wanted to be."

Dipper turned to peer up at Tyson, who too had dismounted and was now sitting down on his recently cleared seat. He popped an animal cracker into his mouth and chewed slowly before continuing. "Just gotta believe in yourself and work had. That's what I did."

Tyson looked down at him, small watery smile on his face with just a hint of hope in his eyes.

Dipper smiled back up at the older student and flushed under the praise as Bill was quick to agree with him. Shaking his head and putting it in his hands, Dipper giggled a little. "You two are way too much!"

"Ahh, don't be like that, Pine Tree!" Bill said, emptying his bag of Goldfish into his mouth before reaching out and pulling away Dipper's hands from his face. Looking down at that adorable pout, cheeks puffing out some, Bill had to once again, fight the urge to just lean down and kiss the boy already.

Why did he have to be so damn precious? Cute  _and_ humble? In every way?

Bill could hardly stand it.

"I'm not being like anything!" Dipper shot back playfully with a roll of his eyes.

Before Bill could respond, the sound of drumline doing their cadence shocked him out of his daze. Grabbing his flute, he whipped around to join in the fight song as the third quarter began.

Frowning a little at missing the second entrance of their team, Dipper awkwardly played around with his own snack of Chex Mix he had got.

"Hey, Bill. Want my snack?" He offered as soon as kickoff ended.

Turning around at that and shaking a few crickets out of his hair, Bill frowned. "You're not hungry?"

"I had a really big dinner." Dipper lied just as his stomach let out a monstrous growl. Flushing, his eyes snapped up to Bill, large like those of a deer caught in headlights, horror growing in him.

Bill frowned. "Dipper...you're not...nevermind." Bill said quickly. He couldn't ask that with the way Dipper was looking up at him- like he was already about to burst into tears. No. Way.

"Well, we can share if you don't want to eat it all?" Bill offered shakily. Glancing around a little, he climbed up over his seat. Squirming into a tight fit next to Dipper, he wrapped an arm around the younger boy.

"I guess that would be okay." Dipper practically whispered as he popped the bag open. Huffing through his nose, the boy reached a shaky hand into the bag and pulled out a chip. Placing it into his mouth, he chewed slowly before swallowing. Lord knew he wanted to just tear into the bag and consume it all, but this time...this time he had control over himself. Yes, control. That's what he had now. That's what he always worked on and with a small smile, Dipper waited for Bill to grab his own small handful before eating another small piece.

The two were silent as they finished their snack and Dipper found himself squirming in his seat again, at a loss at what to do.

Sensing the other's growing awkwardness, Bill hopped back down into his seat. Eyes sparking mischievously, he grinned widely up at Dipper.

"Hey, Pine Tree! Wanna see something hilarious?"

Dipper stood up and cocked his head to the side. "Hilarious?"

"Just a little game some play during games like these." Bill said as he bent down. It wasn't hard finding a live cricket and with quick hands, the blond was able to scoop one up easily enough, gently pinching it's wriggly, black body between his fingers, ignoring it's wings already trying to take off.

"Are you gonna do what I think you're gonna do?" Tyson suddenly piped up, his own face a grinning visage.

"Wait, what? What are you guys talking about?" Dipper asked, leaning back and wrinkling his nose at the sight of the struggling bug. Sure, at this point crickets didn't bother him. He still didn't want to pick one up.

"Watch." Bill smirked as he turned frontwards and Dipper watched in both horror and disbelief as Bill carefully slipped the cricket into the collar of the person's uniform in front of them, stuffing it down carefully.

She didn't notice at all and continued to talk happily with her friends.

Tyson had to hold in a bark of a laugh as he shook his head. "God, this game…"

"Game?" Dipper squeaked, all parts confused, grossed out, and even, if just a little, amused.

"Yeah. See how many crickets you can stuff into a person's jacket till they notice. The record I believe is twelve, right?"

"Thirteen, actually." Tyson corrected.

"That's horrible!" Dipper gasped.

"But hilarious!"

Dipper sighed. He couldn't disagree with that, unfortunately.

Tyson handed Bill another cricket and from there, the game was started. Seeing how one of the jacket buttons on her shoulder was already undone, it wasn't hard stuffing a second cricket into the girl's jacket.

Or a third.

Or a fourth.

At this point, Dipper was both parts impressed and disgusted with only a teensy bit of sympathy for the girl in him.

At the entrance of a fifth cricket of her uniform, the girl finally noticed. Screaming and cursing, she ripped her jacket off, revealing the crickets crawling all around on her torso. More screams rose at the sight around, along with sharp laughter.

"CIPHER!" She roared as she whipped around, face red and eyes wide, snarling in rage.

Bill couldn't stop himself from falling back onto his seat from laughter.

And neither could Dipper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally a little fluff!  
> And before anyone asks, yes the cricket thing did happen at our old stadium. We have no chill.  
> And yes, I did doodle the ending picture! It was fun to do! 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	9. Silence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow this took long! Ah well, enjoy nonetheless.

Rolling his shoulders back, Bill rubbed the bridge of his nose as he threw the door to the instrument room open.

Practice this morning had been a nightmare, but what was one to expect. He rolled his shoulders, scowling softly. It the brass didn't learn to shut up and stop giving all of them so many push ups to do, someone was going to end with a marching flute lodged up their ass.

Shaking his head, the blond strolled over to his locker, reaching up to pull his lock off. There was a trick to these sorts of locks after all, as long as they  _looked_ like they were locked, no one would lock it upside down.

Speaking of locks being locked upside down…

Looking to the side, Bill smirked at the side of a lock hanging open. Sidling up, he slipped it out, flipped it around so it was backwards and upside down, and locked it shut, jiggling it around a little to make sure it was closed for sure.

He chuckled. He loved doing that.

Going back over to his own locker, he took out his concert flute before shutting everything up. It wasn't that he needed to practice their show music- he had done that a long time ago. But practicing more never hurt anyone and besides, if he wanted to stay the best of the best, he had to work for it. Nothing more than that.

Doing a sweep of the empty room to lock a few more unlocked locks upside down and backward, Bill grabbed his bag and strode out into the Band Hall.

Walking past the tubas to leave, the blond paused before Dipper's, staring at the golden instrument for a moment.

He sighed, pink already dusting his cheeks as his heart sped up just a little.

God, he had it bad. But he couldn't help it. The kid was adorable, smart, funny, clever, and so... _personable._

Well, least he was once you got past that shyness and though Dipper was still quiet when they hung out with Star and Tad, Bill had never failed in getting the kid to talk to him. Hell, it was hard to get the kid to shut up, not that he would want that, though. Dipper's voice was squeaky and perfect, just as high pitched as his own.

Bill smiled widely, not caring that he probably looked like a loon. The whole school already thought he was crazy, it really couldn't get any worse.

Bill could listen to that voice all day. Hell, he could stare at Dipper himself all day and not get bored. The kid had the most precious expressions after all.

Bill shook his head. One day. One day he'll be able to ask him out properly. And then they would date and he'll be able to kiss and hug him as much as he wanted and be able to do so many things and be able to talk to him and not feel like he was about to trip over his own words and-

Bill shook his head and forced himself to keep walking and stride out of the band hall. He needed to  _practice._

Turning down the hallway, Bill peered into different rooms, jiggling the door handle to see if they were locked or not.

Getting to the end of the hallway, Bill froze as he stared into the window of the last door on the right side, eyes gleaming brightly as his face flushed, goofy grin already plastered on.

Dipper was practicing with his own concert tuba. The case was shoved into the corner and the kid's back was to him. Bill could see their show music placed on the black stand before him and though Bill couldn't hear him from the soundproof room, Bill could still see him stopping every few minutes to adjust. Back hunched, the kid's shoulders shook a little.

Bill frowned. That's not right.

Before he even knew what he was doing, Bill reached out and knocked loudly on the door.

Dipper jumped at the sudden noise, nearly dropping the tuba in his lap. Setting the instrument down on the ground, he twisted around in his seat, eyes widening and face flushing as he stared at him.

Bill shifted on his feet, all too aware of those doe eyes picking him apart. He felt like he would melt under that gaze.

Relaxing himself, and stretching his already wide grin out even more, Bill waved cheerfully before pointing at the door handle.

Dipper bit his lip, expression unreadable.

Bill froze at the hesitation but relaxed again as Dipper finally got up and padded over to the door, unlocking it and swinging it open.

"Hey, Pine Tree!" Bill greeted, slipping past the chubby boy and into the room. "I didn't know you were staying after school too!"

"Hi, Bill." Dipper replied as he closed the door, hands shaking a little. "Well, I wasn't but Mabel is staying after for practice and, well since Stan has to pick her up anyways, I thought I could stay after too and practice a little more."

Bill nodded. Grabbing a slightly broken chair from the corner of the room, he leaned back lazily as soon as he was seated. "Oh, okay." The blond commented, only to mentally scowl at himself afterward. Really? Okay? He could've said more and sounded more interested than that!

"Do you practice a lot?" He ventured instead as Dipper sat back down. Bill scooted his chair closer so he was sitting beside the other. He forced himself to not reach out to take Dipper's hand or touch his shoulder.

"Eh, not really." He admitted softly. "I mean, I don't like practicing at home really. I sometimes go out into the woods to though."

"Why don't you like practicing at home?" Bill couldn't help but ask, tipping his head to the side. "Though, practicing in the woods sounds really cool! Like, mysterious almost!" Bill fell serious. "You are a very mysterious boy, Dipper Pines."

The brunet gave him a watery smile. "Yeah...mysterious boy. That's me alright."

"So why don't you like practicing at home again? Sorry, I got off topic…" Bill apologized awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck.

Dipper shrugged, his voice falling even softer than it had been before. "I don't really like people hearing me play. I'm not very good."

Bill mentally cursed himself again. "I'm sure that's not true! And besides, how are you supposed to get better if you don't practice, silly?" Bill couldn't help it, he reached up and ruffled Dipper's hair. The teen made a small noise at the touch but instead of leaning away as Bill had thought he would do, he leaned in instead.

"Well, that's true...which is why I practice in the forest! And here!"

Bill smiled. "Well there you go then. You even found a room that was actually unlocked!"

Dipper smiled brightly at him. Realizing he was still ruffling the kid's hair, Bill let his hand drop, cheeks flushing an even darker color.

"That's true." Dipper agreed. "But I'm still having some trouble…"

Bill frowned. "Want me to help? I mean, I  _am_ going to be a Drum Major next year."

Dipper's eyes widened. "Really? You are?"

"Well I'm going to try! I'm great, so I'm probably going to get chosen."

Dipper laughed at that, falling backward and putting his hands over his mouth.

"What? Am I wrong? Am I wrong?" Bill teased back, throwing his hands into the air.

"No, no. You're not. You're...you're- um…" Dipper's cheeks darkened even more and he dropped his hands, fingers twining together nervously. He stared at his pudgy hands, unblinking.

"You're pretty great." He finished, quieter this time.

Bill's comical grin dropped into something softer, gentler. "Heh, thanks. You're p-pretty great too, kid."

"R-really? You think so?"

Bill shook his head and gave the brunet a friendly light punch on the shoulder. "I know so!"

"T-thanks. No one's ever said that to me before." Dipper admitted quietly. "Well, besides Mabel."

Bill couldn't stop himself from fully throwing an arm over Dipper's shoulders, hugging him close. "Really? Well, it's probably because you're so great and cool that they're intimidated by you. That's really the only explanation."

Dipper buried his head into his hands again and shook his head from side to side. "I really doubt that's it-"

"No, that's the reason. I say so, so it must be true."

"That's not how it works, Bill."

Bill hummed. "I don't care!" He laughed, letting go of Dipper and leaning back. God he was so awkward.

Dipper shook his head at Bill but nevertheless, couldn't help but feel lighter than ever.

"Anyways, um, need any help? Practicing I mean? Kid?" Bill coughed.

Dipper flushed. "Well, I- um. I don't know if I could...you know…"

"Play in front of me?"

Dipper nodded softly.

Bill threw the boy a small, but understanding smile, reaching out to give him another small, this time shorter hug. "Hey, it's fine! No judgment here! I'll even turn around if you want me to."

Dipper stared up at him with large, liquid eyes. "Really?" He squeaked, cheeks puffing out again. Bill resisted the urge to pinch them.

"Really." The blond reassured before swirling around in his seat. "I'll even cover my eyes if you want me to!"

Dipper shook his head for a second before pausing, remembering that Bill couldn't see him. "That won't be, um, needed."

"Okay then. Whenever you're ready."

Dipper sighed and lifted his tuba back up, setting it in his lap. Giving Bill one last glance, he squared his shoulders and brought the mouthpiece up to his mouth. Turning his eyes upon his marked up music, Dipper reached over to turn the metronome sitting on his stand on, tapping his foot to the beat.

And then, eight beats in, he started.

He ignored Bill's presence, ignored the embarrassment and discouragement already twisting in his gut and poisoning his mind and instead focused on the notes he was reading, every accidental, every change, and every rhythm. The small, soundproof room was filled with a deep, rich barbitone buzz that raised and lowered as the brunet weaved everything together, connecting and breaking things when needed, giving himself only the barest of thoughts as his fingers flew, lips changed, and eyes swiveled. His heart pounded in his chest, breath caught and bubbling in the pit of his lungs. Gasping when needed when rests popped up, he never broke concentration.

Well, at least he tried not to. Tried until he reached his first wrong note.

Jumping at the rude, sudden dissonance he had created with himself. He struggled to get his focus back, not wanting to dwell on what just passed, trying to live for the moment.

However, that wrong note- that  _mistake_ dwelled in the back of his mind and he missed a second. Then a Third. Fourth, fifth, and sixth even and once he reached near the bottom, could barely keep pace with the monotonous metronome. His eighth notes slurred together, staccatos lengthened, and his half notes broke off too early.

Dipper forced himself to hold out to the end. Unable to actually hold four whole notes, he took awkward and obvious staggered breaths and finally, he ended the third and last movement.

Dipper sucked in a breath and dropped his tuba back to the ground. His shoulders shook as he tried to catch back up to his racing heart and pained lungs.

Bill swiveled around on his chair again, eyes wide.

"I'm so-" Dipper started, only to get cut off.

"That was amazing, kid! Beautiful!"

Dipper blinked in shock, actually speechless for once. "What." He stated.

Bill rolled his eyes. "I said that was great, and it was! For someone so quiet normally, you can sure play loud if you want too." His odd, golden eyes twinkled. "That was beautiful!"

"But I screwed up! A lot!"

"So?"

Dipper jerked back in surprise, staring up at Bill in pure shock. "W-what?"

Bill frowned. "I said so what? Everyone makes mistakes, that's the point of practicing! Doesn't mean you're bad, just means you need to keep working on it!"

Dipper's eyes shined and his lips quirked into a hopeful smile. "I- I guess so." He finally said, his voice shaky.

Bill ruffled the teen's locks, lingering some before pulling away. "You'll get it. You're on the right track. You have everything down, you just gotta refine it!"

Dipper visibly relaxed, his worries melting away at the blond's words. "H-hey, um thank you." He said, looking at the floor, flushing red spreading down his neck and up his ears.

Bill tilted his head to the side. "For what?" He asked.

Dipper peered at him through his bangs. "For, um helping me."

Bill smiled and, getting up, he pulled Dipper up by his arm to give him a full hug, arms wrapped tightly around his waist, nose buried into his hair to smell his almost sweet scent. He was warm, almost too warm and his body was soft and melded perfectly against his. Bill found himself melting into the touch. He never wanted to let go.

"Heh, no problem, kid." Bill muttered softly, slowly pulling away. "No problem at all."

~~0~~0~~0~~

Dipper shivered as he stepped out of the shower. One good thing about being the last person to take a shower was that there was no one waiting for him.

He avoided looking at himself in the mirror, not wanting to see his features as he grabbed a towel and wiped at the tears still somehow streaming down his face. His gut twisted around and around and he hurried up to get his body dry, wiping off the water hard enough to turn his pasty skin red. His nose wrinkled at the sight of his stomach and chest wriggling at the movement and he hurried to wrap himself up in his towel, blocking himself from his own view. he sniffed, peeking through his wet eyelashes at his bulky form in the mirror, skin lobster red from the scalding heat of the shower, droplets of water still tracing down his skin.

He held in his sob.

He wrapped his arms around himself, dull nails digging into himself, wishing they were longer and sharper, sharp enough to cut through his thin towel, through his flappy, repulsive skin, right into the fat that laid below, hooking his nails underneath to rip it out. It would be soft on his fingers, slimy with blood and fluids, slipping past his fingers and falling to his feet. He'd tear out another chunk of himself, and another and another and another.

Dipper sucked in a gasp and shook his head angrily, digging his teeth into his cheek.

Bending down, he opened up the bottom cabinet as he always did and, with a steady hand drew out the scale.

Placing it gently on the floor as to not create noise, Dipper stared at it blankly before, ever so slowly stepping onto it.

200.

The number glared back at him.

He smiled brightly, his stomach twisting around again, emptiness best ignored clawing at his walls.

Seven pounds gone.

Too many to count left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, got some news! Remember when I said this was going to be 30 chapters long?
> 
> Well, I cut it to 18 mainly because I'm getting a little bored with this story, am really frustrated with band in rl and have had no motivation to write this, and am busy with other stuff and yeah. Just a lot of stuff so I guess this story is already halfway done! Hooray!
> 
> Of course, the plotless plot will still make sense, so no worries there!
> 
> Hope you guys liked this chapter!
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	10. I Don't Care

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Been a while since I updated this!

Dipper nearly jumped a foot in the air as his name was suddenly screamed right next to his ear, an arm already snaking its way across his wide shoulders.

"Bill! You need to stop sneaking up on my like that!" The brunet scolded, smile already turning the corners of his lips as he allowed himself to be turned into the instrument room.

"Hey, not my fault you are never paying attention to your surroundings." Bill laughed as he hugged him close. Dipper flushed but nevertheless, relaxed in the grip, too used to the thin, warm, and welcoming arm.

"Well unlike some, I can actually think and walk at the same time." The brunet replied back snootily, loving the laugh he got from the other in response.

"Fair enough, fair enough." Bill joked as he lead him down a wall of lockers, pausing in front of his. "So water you wandering the band hall for."

Dipper blinked slowly. "What that a pun?"

"Maybe."

Dipper snorted at that. "That was so bad! There was no reason or build up or...you tell the worst jokes. They sound like they come from the internet."

Bill threw the brunet a mock hurt look. "I'll have you know everything that comes out of my mouth is one hundred percent completely original and trademarked, thank you very much."

"Create your own language then say that sentence. English doesn't belong to anyone. Well, except maybe some ancient aliens…"

"Gotta give you that one, Pine Tree." Bill said, turning to unlock his locker. "But seriously, why are you wandering about again? Gonna practice?"

Dipper flushed. "T-that was the plan. Um, I've gotten a lot better! Really!" He squealed, twining his fingers together nervously and peeking through his bangs to stare up at Bill, smiling a little, anxiousness bleeding through the little gesture.

"I bet you have!" Bill congratulated, pulling his flute out of his locker. "You work really hard, after all."

Dipper beamed under the praise, hands twisting into one another as his face turned an even more cheery red. "T-thanks!" He bumbled.

"Which reminds me but not really!" Bill started as he slammed his locker close. "We're having a flute section swim party! Last one before it gets too cold to do anything. It's tomorrow at the lake. Wanna join?"

"B-but I'm not a flute. I wouldn't be…"

Bill snorted and ruffled Dipper's hair, causing the boy to squeak out in surprise. "Kid, I'm the Section Leader- Overlord of all silver and shiny flutes. You can come of you wanna."

"Um, yeah? But I can't swim…"

"I could teach you-"

"No! I mean, no bathing suit?"

Bill blinked slowly, giving the brunet an unsure look. Though he was desperate to press the real issue on why Dipper didn't want to swim, he held his tongue and instead gave an understanding nod. "That's fine! One of the girl's parents owns a boat plus you can always hang in the sand."

"And you won't leave me, r-right?" Dipper's bright flush crawled down his chest and up to the tips of his ears and Bill couldn't stop himself from giving the adorable teen another hug, laughing a little into his hair.

"Of course not!"

Dipper relaxed ever so slightly in the other's grip and smiled softly, eyes twinkling. "Then I would love to go."

"Great! Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then. I'll meet you out in front of the school, okay?" Bill dropped his arm and took a few steps away from the other, still grinning. "See you around, Pine Tree."

Dipper gave the blond a soft smile as he skipped out of the instrument room, as bright and as cheerful as ever.

As soon as those doors slammed close, Dipper turned and smashed his head into the metal lockers, ignoring the stinging pain as he groaned.

What had he just gotten himself into?

~~0~~0~~0~~

Dipper twisted the hem of his red tee-shirt in his fingers as he stared out into the parking lot, eyes watching Bill's yellow bug crawl closer towards him, red headlights flaring furiously when it was forced to stop every few seconds due to other cars searching for kids to pick up. He bit his lip, tightening his grip on his bag some as he tried to control his breathing.

It wasn't like he had to go into the water, or any of that. He could just stay on the shore, get caught up on homework. He'd be fine…

"Hey, Pine Tree! Over here!"

Dipper turned and using his hand to block out the bright sun, spotted Bill waving his hand out of his car. Smiling and waving back, empty gut twisting itself up into nasty little knots, he quickly took off towards the other's car, flinging the door open and sitting in his normal seat up in the front, tucking his bag underneath his seat.

"You ready, kid?" Bill greeted as he cut a car off trying to get away from the school, taking time to laugh again as he flipped them off.

Dipper smiled at his antics.

"So not swimming?" Bill asked as he turned out onto the road, giving him a side glance.

"I told you I wasn't." Dipper replied, playing with the radio some.

"I know, I know. Just making sure. I doubt everyone's gonna be in the water at once anyways so you won't be alone-"

"I brought some homework to work on, I'll be fine." Dipper cut him off, cheeks glowing a soft red already. "So don't worry about me. And, um. You know- know how I, um. Am." He stuttered some, dipping his face down some.

Bill turned and gave him another grin, this one smaller and softer and wrapped a free arm around his shoulders, tracing feather circles with his palm. "Yeah, I know." Bill murmured. "And it's okay! I'm glad you even agreed to come to be honest." Bill stuck his tongue out playfully at the other, removing his arm as the car started to drift into the wrong lane to straighten it out again.

Dipper's cheeks brightened and Bill had to stop himself from giving the teen another awkward side hug. He sighed and the two talked in amiable silence only broken up by whatever weak voices trickled in through the crackling car speakers. Dipper stared at Bill's Illuminati ornament hanging from his mirror, watching it spin and swing around as he tried not to stare at the blond too much.

Only after a twisting maze filled with more traffic and Bill's cursing did the two finally reach the lake. There were a surprising number of guys along with the flutes already skipping around the shore, especially considering there was only one other male flute player beyond Bill. Boyfriends, Dipper figured and his palpitating heart calmed ever so slightly. Well least he wasn't the only non-flute here…

He couldn't help but peek up at Bill again, who was struggling to find a place to park that wouldn't completely end up in them getting boxed in nor would tear up the tires.

"Well! We're here." Bill chirped as soon as he shut the ignition. He shot Dipper another wide smile before throwing his car door open and stepping out. "C'mon, kid! Let's go."

Dipper scrambled out of the car, nearly slipping and falling. Using the roof of Bill's car to hold himself up, he pushed himself back up. Bill hopped to his side, yellow beach bag in tow, looping their arms together.

"Ready to go?"

Dipper nodded mutely and allowed himself to get dragged towards the lake. A light breeze ruffled his hair and though the sun wasn't nearly as blazing as it was back in California during the summer, it still shone nice and warm.

The last day for real summer fun indeed.

Bill stopped suddenly, jerking them both to a standstill and used his free hand to cover his eyes a little, peering around.

"I think this is a good place to stop and put our stuff down." He commented, dropping his bag down onto the dirty ground. Dipper cocked an eyebrow at the motion, tilting his head to the side in confusion.

"Bill, we're at a lake, not a beach." Dipper said, rolling his eyes at the other's antics. Bill laughed openly at that.

"Well, close enough! Amiright?"

"No, Bill!" Dipper giggled, flushing at the other's infectious laugh as he buried his head into his hands. "The local lake and the Pacific Ocean are two entirely different things!"

"How so?" Bill continued to joke. "The both got islands on them!"

Dipper paused at that. "Don't you mean in?"

Bill shook his head. "No, on. What, you really think Hawaii is connected to the ocean floor?"

Dipper gave the other a thoughtful look. "Hm, well...I've never really thought about it in all honesty."

Bill nodded sagely. "Most haven't, but now you know! I need to brush up on my proof a little, but I'll get back to you on that!"

"Can't wait to hear it then!" Dipper responded, moving to lay a blanket on the ground to sit on- it may not be a California beach, but it was better than nothing and besides, he still didn't want dirt in his shorts.

"I'm going to run and say hello to a few of the girls." Bill started. "And also, see if I can smuggle us some cold drinks and snacks. I'll be right back, promise!"

And with that being said, Dipper watched as Bill turned and ran off, arms already waving about to grab attention to a gaggle of girls who were already laughing openly at him, cheeks bright in a blush and loud voices cheerful and welcoming.

An alien stab of pain tore through Dipper's heart. He ignored it.

Deciding he wasn't just going to sit on his bum like some sore loser, Dipper climbed to his feet, stretching his arms out briefly before turning and walking out to the water, making sure to stray from where the majority of where other band members were staying. Water roaring at him, beckoning him closer and closer, he paused right before the waves, far enough away so the tide couldn't even grasp at the tips of his shoes, and stared out into the foggy lake, just able to make out the haunting trees on the other side.

Shaking his head a little, he stared down at his feet, at the lapping water, cold smile tugging at his lips. The sun hitting the back of his neck was nothing like the one back in California and the murky waves trying to get him were nothing like the glittering blue ones that soaked the golden coins of sand. Shells were not washing up to meet him, ready to be picked up by childish hands and stuffed down the front of his swimming suit. Laughter from parents that once cared and loved him rang in his ears, just as faded as the trees across the lake, forgotten by time and stained by bad blood.

Dipper dug his teeth into his lips and wrapped his arms around himself, unable to tear his blanking eyes from the waves below, lost in their melody and his resurfacing memories of bright laughter quickly falling to harsh screaming, warm smiles getting marred by disapproving frowns, and hands that had once clasped him so tightly now being put on hips in anger, finger wagging in the air for punishment.

Dipper shook his head angrily. Why was he even thinking of this? He was with Bill for Pete's sake! In Gravity Falls! His new start.

His new-

Dipper couldn't help but let out a squeal of shock as another body rocketed into his own, smashing against his side with such force that pain sparked through his nerves. Feet twisting beneath him, unable to catch himself in time, Dipper stumbled forwards right into the hungry maw of waves, knees twisting as he collapsed into the water in a heap, another small scream escaping him at the cold touch of water suddenly soaking through his too-light shirt, water unstoppable as it consumed his binder underneath said shirt as well. Dipper shuddered, all too aware of the fabric now clinging him and showing the outline of his little secret. His hands thudded into the minuscule, sharp rocks below and he whimpered a bit in the sudden stabbing pain.

"Hey!" The kid above him said- most likely one of the flute's dimwitted boyfriend's. "What the heck, man? Get out of my way!"

Dipper scrambled a little, falling down on his bottom slipping on the sand, staring up into the face of the irritated teen above him.

"S-sorry…" Dipper stuttered. Despite his gut twisting up in fury and his head telling him that it should be the other guy apologizing, not him, he couldn't help the pitiful word from spilling over his lips.

"You should be-" The teen started, only to get cut off by a yell from a familiar voice.

"Hey! Leave him alone!" Bill roared as he ran up, fire in his eyes and his entire body tensed up with crackling energy.

Dipper jerked as the teen before him jumped a little, eyes widening as Bill approached them. Despite the blond being shorter than the teen towering above him, he still stumbled back, fear in his eyes as he backed off.

"Oh, er...um…" The teen muttered, hands flying up as if to protect himself. He backed up more, cheeks flushing and as Bill took another threatening step forwards, bristling and ready to lash out. A small sound of fear escaping his lips, he turned and fled, kicking up dirt as he sped off.

Dipper sniffed a little, horror simmering in his gut as Bill turned to him, holding out a hand to help him up. Bitter and aching tears heating up the back of his eyes, Dipper ignored the hand as he crawled up to his own feet, turning and fleeing himself to the suddenly welcoming treeline not too far away. Silt clinging onto his drenched shirt, outlining every repulsive curve and surely, his binder as well.

Dipper could hear the confused voice of Bill as the blond cried out for him, but he didn't care.

Bill knew. People knew.

He should've known it was too good to last, should've known he was pushing his luck reaching out as he did. People didn't like people like...like him. Like...like...her…

Dipper nearly sobbed out at the thought as he entered the hungry forest, shoulders scraping against rough bark as foliage and twigs snapped at his pasty flesh, trampled underneath his heavy footfalls.

Dipper knew he couldn't run far or well- already his knees were trembling beneath him, breaths coming in sharp gasps as more tears stung his eyes, too ready to trace lazy and hot rivers down his face.

"Dipper!"

Dipper jerked at the alien sound of his name screamed by a familiar voice. A steady and firm hand clasped his wrist and something heavy fell around his shoulders.

Dipper turned his face to the ground, all energy draining from him as he hid his face behind his chocolate bangs. Arms gently wrapped around him from the back, careful not to travel too far north and before he even realized it, he was sinking onto his knees into scratchy grass, Bill's hot breath billowing his hair.

"Dipper? Dipper, are you okay? Please say something."

Dipper winced at the concern and fear in Bill's voice and curled up tighter, shaking his head back and forth.

"I- you're...you're not going to leave me, are you?" He couldn't help but sniffle. The brunet pushed the palms of his hands into his eyes, as if trying to hold his own bubbling emotions inside. His heart ached and for a single second, Dipper didn't want to hear Bill's answer, didn't- couldn't stand the thought of hearing those words of rejection for a third time.

"I- I- why would you- I could never leave you, Dipper. Not ever."

Dipper froze at the words, hope reheating his freezing heart and he picked his head up, glancing over his shoulder only to be met with heartfelt amber eyes and a small and truthful smile, dark cheeks dusted with the faintest of blushes.

"W-what?"

Dipper allowed himself to be fully turned around by Bill, who moved so that he was partially sitting in his lap. Hands roamed over his back and shoulders soothingly, helping pat him dry.

"What do you mean, what?" Bill responded, his usual cheekiness a bit hollow.

"I- I mean…" Dipper shook his head. Bill was anything but stupid but did he seriously not-

One of the hands moved from his back to cup his face gently and sooner than he would've liked, Dipper was staring back into Bill's eyes, his face holding more seriousness than Dipper thought possible.

"Dipper." Bill spoke again, leaning in even closer. The brunet's breath hitched at the closeness, heart racing and heat flooded his body. Gulping thickly, still all too aware on his clinging clothes and the way Bill had not once glanced down to take it in, Dipper felt Bill's lips almost brush against his.

"You are the most beautiful boy I have ever laid eyes on." Bill whispered and just as Dipper registered what Bill said, a pair of lips pressed against his, solid and true and warm, conveying a feeling Dipper didn't even know was possible- one that flooded through him and soaked him to his bone. His heart palpitated ever faster and without realizing it, the brunet reached up to gently grasp Bill's shirt, pulling him slightly closer and though he was unsure of what exactly he was doing, he followed Bill's lead, tilting his head to the side more so their noses stopped brushing up against one another too much and parting his lips just so, squeaking a little at the foreign but welcoming feel. Cheeks, neck, ears, and even his chest redder than ever, painted a crimson blush that was brighter than fire itself, Bill slowly pulled away, lips quirking into a soft grin, eyes twinkling with nothing but adoration.

Dipper couldn't seem to close his mouth, eyes opening and widening in pure surprise. His limbs were paralyzed with both hope, disbelief, and giddiness and he was speechless.

Warm hands moved to cup his face again.

"Now, how about we get you dried off and home, yeah? Parties are lame anyways."

Dipper blinked slowly and before he knew it, lips were pressing against his for the second time, just as sweet as before.

"That would be nice." Dipper breathed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh I hope I wrote this right and didn't offend any trans people out there. Yikes. 
> 
> Anyways, this chapter didn't follow my original outline but I think it's still pretty good so YEAH this is what you're getting. Took half the fic for Bill to finally kiss Dipper rip. Well, more than half. 
> 
> And because this is my band fic I can say this- Our team lost in the Semi-finals this year. I'm a senior in high school. My marching band life is officially over and I'm not gonna lie- the thought does kinda make me wanna cry and now this fic is giving me even more feels because of it as well. 
> 
> That has nothing to do with anything but ahhhh still. 
> 
> Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!  
> And, as always, thanks for reading!


	11. Kisses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't updated this in like forever. Sorry it's so short but enjoy~  
> ALSO Thank you guys so much for 500 kudos! I can't believe it!

Small feet trailed over thick roots and long, swaying grass as a small and plush brunet made his way deeper and deeper into the murky forest beyond. The firmament was thick with the oppressive weight of graying clouds, each one doing nothing but pressing down harder on the already muggy air.

Flies, mosquitoes, and other such buzzing bugs joined Dipper on his journey into the Gravity Falls forest, not quite able to tag along for a ride with all the repellent drenching his pasty, sweating skin.

Dipper huffed through his mouth, pausing one more to lean his hand against the rough bark of a tree, waiting a few seconds to catch his breath and place down the heavy black case he was lugging around, giving his short and stumpy fingers and fat palm calluses.

Since there was no way he could practice back at the shack, where customers came and went and where the walls were thinner than a blade of grass it seemed, he would just have to go where civilization died and where anarchy ruled.

Dipper wiped his brow. Well. That is if he could even make it to his normal clearing- one he ad found when he had gotten bored one day and started poking around. It normally wasn't such a struggle to find however on a nasty day like this where it seemed the entire world was against its own comfort, Dipper found himself already quite fatigued. Reaching up his shirt to pull his binder down lower and smooth out some wrinkles, the boy stretched his back and picking up his case, started off again into the deep unknown.

He didn't have to travel much farther when he finally found his little clearing, sitting just as peacefully as it alway did. Despite how there was no real golden light shining down from the pines towering above him, Dipper could still clearly see the shining dew drops on the tall blades of grass, like tears from the Earth herself, clinging onto her great lashes, not yet shed. He paused, stepping over the reaching branches of a bush and pausing at the maw of the entrance and took a moment to merely admire how simple everything was, how the misty fog of darkness flinched back from the small place, hanging back behind the treeline and how fat, languid bugs buzzed over his head. Small patches of pastel wildflowers grew without abandon and the entire scene seemed to unfold before him as something out of a picture book- not quite gorgeous however but nowhere near ugly- simply content in its existence and wanting nothing more.

A pang went through Dipper's heart at the musing, but he shook his head to dislodge those thoughts before they could even fully form, trotting into the misty clearing before him.

Standing in the very center of the clearing, Dipper sucked in a deep breath and allowed a small smile to cross his features. Dropping his heavy case, Dipper stretched and popped his fingers and knuckles, as well as took off his backpack and fetched his bottle of water, taking a long drink from it, before tucking it away and sitting down in the soft grass. Scooting over to his case, Dipper unlocked the small hatches and cracked it open, revealing the sousaphone inside.

Dipper bit the inside of his cheek. Despite having gotten permission to bring it home with him to practice marching with it, he still felt unsure about the entire ordeal. Still, he supposed it could be worse and at least he got permission.

He shook his head lightly, a small smile gracing his chubby cheeks at the thought of a certain blond he knew that seemed to have no care at all for any rules and held no fear in getting caught. Or, well, fear in general.

Dipper didn't know how he did it. Bill's answer of "radiation-induced magic from the stars" didn't really explain anything at all.

Dipper carefully took the instrument out, slipping it on and balancing it on his shoulders. Slipping his mouthpiece out of his pocket, he slipped it on and with a deep breath, went through his warm ups.

The simple quarter and half notes reverberated through the trees, a baritone and almost primal timbre in a place so disconnected to everything else and closing his eyes, Dipper allowed the music take hold of him as he fell into their show music, his cheeks turning red from exertion as his fingers flew across the fey keys available to him, lips snapping into the proper position they were to be in to play the correct note. His a capella bled out into the surrounding forests, capturing Mother Nature herself in its boisterous pride and as Dipper followed the memories paved way by his muscles, he finally quieted into a soft drawl before tapering out at the end. He let go of the mouthpiece, his entire face on fire, a frown tugging at his lips at all the mistakes he knew he had.

However, that did nothing to stop the erupting ovation erupting behind him.

Dipper squeaked loudly, nearly falling down and definitely hurting his shoulder as he whipped around on his heel to see a familiar blond hanging back in the treeline behind him, eyes twinkling and face dusted pink, the sound from his hands stopping suddenly. Bill dropped his hands and stepped forwards, closing the distance between him and the brunet with languid ease. A smile stretched across his face, showcasing his sparkling teeth.

Dipper's face flushed- but this time, not from exertion.

"Bill! What are you doing here? How did you even find me?!" Dipper squawked.

"Your great uncle helped me! Said you were just a little yonder this ways, so here I am!" Bill threw his arms out. "And I gotta say, that was amazing!" Bill stepped forwards quickly and gently touched Dipper's cheek, trailing his fingers down the burning surface of his skin, his smile falling into something softer.

"I made at least thirty mistakes there…"

"You. We. Amazing. You are amazing and you did wonderful! You're getting better, trust me. So much better." Bill sighed dreamily and peered down at the brunet in utter adoration.

Dipper found himself unable to meet Bill's gaze, his eyes falling downcast and the heat of his blush spread up to the tips of his ears.

"Besides, I think you're being too hard on yourself. Remember, you can't always make out mistakes besides yourself and being outside doesn't help either." Bill poked him in the nose, causing a small giggle to escape him, one Dipper quickly snuffed out.

"Why don't you play for me again?"

"I- I can't…"

Dipper gasped as a pair of lips gently brushed over his, two warm hands running through his greasy, sweaty hair affectionately and an impish nose was pressed against his own button one. Blue eyes replaced Dipper's visage of the forest, twin pools of gentle passion.

"You can. I'll close my eyes if that would make you feel better."

Dipper paused, but finally, after another intense look from Bill, gave a small nod and turned his back to the blond.

And then he played again.

He focused fully on the notes bouncing in his head- at every staccato and whole note, holding each out and determined not to clip a single one. Reality crumbled around him and the loud sound overflowed the small clearing, rustling the trees and causing them to do a small dance of their own, aided by the light breeze that blew through the two, swirling with it's own devotion to Dipper's music. Dipper sucked in a breath when permitted, plowing on, taking each note one at a time, making them as full and as fat as they can be, yet still keeping the march of the tune up.

And once more, Dipper ended the piece, panting hard.

A warm hand gently squeezed Dipper's arm from behind and the boy found himself being spun around by Bill, the older teen still smiling down at him.

"W-well?" Dipper asked.

"That was wonderful, Pine Tree! Maybe work on your dynamics and you could stand to be a bit more staccato, but nothing else beyond that! No wrong notes at all!"

"R-really?"

"Really. Now how about you take off this blasted instrument so I can give you a _proper_ congratulatory kiss?"

Dipper's flush spread to his chest, but he did as Bill said, nearly dropping his tuba multiple times as he took it off and set it back in his case. As soon as its golden gleam was covered by its sleek black case and his mouthpiece tucked back into his shorts pocket, two dark hands cupped his face, tilting his head up and a pair of lips pressed against his own. It was sweet and chaste, Bill's lips tasting almost like honey and Dipper found the kiss ending much sooner than he had hoped, Bill drawing back slowly, stroking the side of his face with his fingers.

"Don't want to take all your breath away." The blond grinned cheekily. "At least, not right now."

"Bill!" Dipper gasped, almost scandalized and the blond pulled the brunet down with him into the long grass, tugging the shorter and pudgier body atop his own, wrapping his arms around him as he sat Dipper in his lap. Dipper yelped at the position, but found himself melting right into Bill's arms instead of pulling away in fear as their stomach's brushed against one another.

"That's my name, don't wear it out." Bill chuckled, parting his legs so Dipper could sit between them instead. Feeling crept back into both of them and Bill's hands fell to lay gently against Dipper's plump hips.

Dipper snorted and flicked Bill in the forehead at that.

Bill laughed loudly.

Dipper gulped thickly, too aware of the position the both of them were in, how close they were, and how Bill's breath billowed against his face, how his lips still tingled from the simple press of his lips.

Without a thought nor a hesitation, Dipper asked, "What are we?"

Bill's eyes widened and Dipper, realizing his folly, slapped his hands across his mouth in mortification.

"S-sorry! I-I didn't- oh my god…" Dipper trailed off. He hid his face in his hands and shivered, shoulders tensing up.

Bill snapped his hanging mouth close and his eyes softened. He gently tugged Dipper's hands away from his face and tilted his head up again.

"Pine Tree, it's fine. I'm sorry I- I didn't mean to- to make you confused or- or go to fast." Bill sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I- I just. I really like you. I like you a lot and I- I was hoping and you always seem so- but no, I- I should've asked. I'm so sorry for making you feel uncomfortable."

"I- It's okay." Dipper answered lamely, looking away. "I'm just. Confused. How can someone like you like someone like _me?"_

Bill frowned. "I'm- I'm not entirely sure what you mean by that. You're wonderful, Dipper Pines. As I said, the most beautiful boy I have ever laid eyes on. You're smart, talented, nice, funny, clever, and a wonderful player and person. Heh."

Dipper stared at Bill with huge eyes. "Y-you really think all that?" He whispered.

"I _know_ all that." Bill corrected gently. "And- and I want to be with you. However, if you don't I- we can stay friends…" Bill flushed and looked away. "And I'm so sorry for-"

"No!"

Bill jumped at the roar Dipper made and Dipper flushed however, stared hard into Bill's eyes and continued. "I- I want to be with you too." He all but whispered. "I- you're so smart and popular and athletic and p-pretty and well. I- I-" Dipper chuckled bitterly. _I'm not._

Bill flushed brightly and shyly wrapped his arms around the brunet's shoulders. "I- Dipper. None of that means anything. I like you. And- and if you want to be with me and I want to be with you. Well…"

Dipper gulped thickly. "Well. Does- does that mean we're-?"

"Only if you want to call it that." Bill breathed, his eyes never leaving Dipper's.

Dipper swallowed his heart and sighed before very, very slowly leaning forwards, pressing his forehead against Bill's bony chest. "I- I would like that. Love that. A lot."

Dipper nearly choked on the words and he found himself being crushed into Bill's chest, lips pressing against the top of his head again.

"I would like that too." Bill admitted. "May...may I kiss you, Dipper Pines?"

Dipper shifted his head upwards, his eyes heavy-lidded as they gazed into Bill's and licking his lips, his heart lodged in his throat and his mind still tumbling head over heels with disbelief, he gave a small nod.

And Bill kissed him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been forever and I am sorry for that. I had put this fic on brief hiatus for a while to get some other stuff worked out and finished however, I am back to working on this!
> 
> And because of reasons I am not going to disclose, I am afraid to say this chapter will be the last one for another while as I want to write this fic and have it completed before updating it again. However, when I do return with updates, they will be weekly and on a schedule so that's good!
> 
> Likewise, there are only seven chapters after this one and one of them is just a short/transition chapter so. Mainly 6 chapters. I am going to try and get another chapter of this completed this week so hopefully I can get this completed and off my plate!
> 
> I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!  
> And, as always, thanks for reading! Don't forget to comment and kudos <3


	12. Safety

Bill smiled to himself, a skip in his step and a small, cheerful whistle on his lips. Finally, his detention had ended for him and he could go fetch his flute and go home and relax a little before working on his auditions. If he was going to make drum major next year, he would have to work a lot harder than he was now to reach it. Bill fingers tapped against his thighs- one, two, three, four. One, two, three, four.

Despite the fact that Bill had detention that day for dumping a kid in the dumpster for being mean to Dipper and the fact he had not seen said boy at all that day, Bill couldn't help but feel as if he were floating on clouds.

He was dating Dipper Pines. The one and only Dipper Pines. Who had the most pinchable, chubbiest cheeks, who more waddled instead of walked, whose nose would scrunch up when confused or worried and whose cheeks puffed out when he flushed- which, to Bill's delight, was quite often.

The beautiful picture of the brunet swam in the blond's mind as he opened the doors to the band hall up, unsurprised to see a few percussionists still loitering about. Paying them no heed at all, the blond proceeded to swing the heavy door to the instrument room open, feet clacking satisfyingly against the dirty white tile as he started to stride lazily over to his locker.

However, before he could reach and unlock it, a too familiar voice called out from the other side of the room.

"H-hello?! Anyone here? Please help me! I'm trapped!"

Bill's blood ran cold at Dipper's distress and his shoulders tensed. "Dipper?" He called out, spinning on his heel and racing across the instrument room.

"Bill?!" Dipper gasped, voice dripping with humiliation and Bill turned to the right as sudden movement in one of the largest, bottom lockers grabbed his attention. His eyes widened at the sight of the short, plush boy caged up and he ran over to where he was trapped, Sliding onto his knees and grabbing the bars of the locker, shaking it.

"Dipper! What happened?" Bill panted, eyes wild. Fury built in his chest at who exactly had done this to such a sweet and innocent boy such as Dipper and Bill struggled to swallow his swelling rage, not wanting to scare Dipper in the panicked state he was already in.

Dipper buried his tearful face in his knees and let out a sob. His cheeks were flushed a deep scarlet and his shoulders trembled.

"I don't know! Someone just shoved me in here, locked it, and left!" Dipper cried. He hiccuped and rubbed his chest wincing. "I've been in here for over an hour!" He hiccuped again and his breaths became even heavier. "I-I've been wearing my binder for too long." Dipper hissed, his voice barely above a whisper. "And- and I don't want to- to get- get…" His breathing became faster and heavier.

Alarmed, Bill thrust his fingers through the bars of the locker, gently brushing the tips of his fingers against Dipper's shorts in the best and only way of physical comfort he could do.

"Shh, please calm down." Bill murmured. "You'll be fine, I promise." Bill bit his tongue hard.

Dipper sniffled again but nodded nonetheless.

"Let me go get a director and see if they can get you unlocked, okay? I'll be right back."

"Okay." Dipper whispered.

Giving the brunet one last soft look and touch, Bill stumbled to his feet and ran out of the instrument room, out of the band hall, and down the hallway to the director's office.

Unfortunately for Bill, no one was inside. However, the light was on and the door unlocked.

Bill hissed to himself at his only partially rotten luck. He would have to come in later and tell the director what had happened to Dipper.

Well, after he tracked the fuckers down himself and gave them what they deserved.

Bill sighed, digging around in the desk and pulling out the skeleton key for all the locks.

If he was caught in another fight, it would be in-school suspension for him. He didn't care though- not when it came to defending and protecting Dipper.

Leaving the room, Bill ran back into the band hall and through the instrument room, not slowing down. Sliding before the locker, scuffing his jeans a little, the blond smiled as Dipper cheered at the sight of the key in his hands, mocha eyes twinkling brightly.

Bill stuffed the key into the lock, twisting it sharply and wrestling the lock out of its place, swinging the door open hard. It clanged loudly as it hit himself and a round shape shot out of it, doing an awkward, stumbling crawl. Plush arms fell around Bill's waist and a chubby face was pressed deep into Bill's chest. Dipper's body seemed to un-accordion as it fell out of the confined space and the boy sucked a deep breath into his uncurled lungs and let out another loud sob.

"Bill! Bill...thank you...I- I didn't know- I- I-" He cried harder.

Bill wrapped his arms tight around Dipper, rubbing small circles into his back and peppering the top of his head with kisses, sighing deeply. Dipper's arms trapped the bubbling anger inside Bill and Bill's heart swelled in affection. Giving Dipper a few more moments of comfort, Bill slowly pushed the younger boy off his lap and hooking his arms around Dipper's waist, grunted as he struggled to get the boy onto his feet. He nearly tripped over his feet, bumbling a bit under the brunet's great weight, but eventually got both of them standing up fully. He crushed Dipper's body close to him again and without a single care in the world, kissed him deeply. Dipper's lips tasted salty from his own tears but Bill found himself not caring at all, all too happy to have the brunet merely in his arms.

"Bill- if- if it's not too much to ask, could- could you possibly….you know...take me home?"

Bill smiled into chestnut locks and pulled away slightly, moving his arm to wrap around Dipper's shoulders loosely and start guiding him out of the instrument room. "Nothing you ask is ever too much, silly. Of course I will, Pine Tree."

Dipper flushed brightly at the reply and buried his face into Bill's chest, finally smiling himself.

Bill's eyes brightened and his heart was lifted. Dipper had a face not meant for crying and frowning- but for cheer and smiles.

And Bill would do whatever it takes to keep that face and by extension, Dipper himself, to keep smiling and feeling happy.

Bill lead them out of the band hall, only to pause. "Dammit, I forgot my flute." He cursed. Unwinding his arm from Dipper's shoulders, he dug into his pocket to pull out his car keys, stuffing them into Dipper's hand.

"Here, you unlock and start the car-"

"I can't drive!"

"Just put it in the ignition and turn it!"

Dipper flushed, blinked, and looked away in embarrassment. Bill chuckled and kissed him sweetly on the cheeks, loving the way Dipper's blush crawled up to his ears.

"You get in the car and I'll run and get my flute and be out in a jiffy!"

"Promise?"

"Of course!"

Making sure Dipper indeed turned the corner and was gone, Bill let his small, adoring smile fall into a bitter purse, rage flaring back up to lick up the walls of his stomach. Hands tightening into fists, the blond whipped around on his heel and marched back into the band hall.

Eyeing the percussionists merely milling about, Bill ran over to them, waving his hand, and stopping their conversation.

"Cipher? What do you want?" A brunette he couldn't care to remember asked, quirking her eyebrow up and jutting her hip out as she crossed her arms.

"I was wondering if you saw the last people to come out of the instrument room? Besides me and Dipper."

"Dipper?"

"The brunet. Little wide. Wild hair."

She shrugged.

"Um, I think I saw some guys leave a while ago? Like maybe almost an hour ago before you came into here." Another percussionist perked up. "There were two of them, actually. They were laughing obnoxiously about something or the other."

Bill grimaced, his eyes darkening. "Did you recognize them?"

The percussionist looked thoughtful for a few seconds before snapping his fingers in recognition. "Actually, I think I did! One was Jeff I believe? Trombone player? Short but stocky? Has that weird obsession with squirrels."

Bill's nose crunched up in distaste. "Oh, I know him." He growled.

The percussionists gave each other uncertain looks before continuing.

"Anyways, yeah it was him and one of his friends I guess. Didn't look like they were in band however. Didn't recognize him at all."

Bill sighed. Well. Where Jeff was his lackies were sure to be as well. His hands tightened into fists again and his grin was nothing but predatory. "Okay then. Thanks for the help." He said again before whipping around on his heel to run out.

"Hey, Cipher?"

Bill turned around.

"Make sure you don't do anything stupid on school grounds."

Bill cocked an eyebrow but continued to back out. "Of course not. Why do you care?"

"I don't. But your the best damn flute player we have in this organization and I'll be damned if we have to go to contest with _Giffany_ being the lead flutist."

Bill snorted a laugh and threw the doors open, calling across the band hall.

"Don't you worry! I don't plan on being kicked out of band. Trust me on that!"

And without another word, Bill disappeared, streaking down the hall as fast as he could.

After all, he had a special brunet waiting for him.

~~0~~0~~0~~

"O-okay! Okay! Stop! Please, no more!"

Heavy pants escaped Bill's mouth as he drew back, that purple pattern of bruises blooming across his knuckles again, along with little flecks of blood that had sprouted from Jeff's now very broken nose and split lip. The heavy-set, short teen was flat on his ass, cradling his wounds in one hand, staring up at Bill with absolute fear in his eyes.

Bill grinned at the look, a delicious feel of _power_ flowing through him- power over pure and unadulterated terror. It was intoxicating.

"I'll stop if you stop picking on Dipper Pines." Bill growled and before Jeff could even nod his head in mad acceptance to whatever the blond's demands were, Bill kicked Jeff hard in the stomach, knocking all breath out of him.

"Don't touch him."

_Kick._

"Don't talk to him."

_Kick._

"Don't look at him."

_Kick._

"Fuck. Don't even _think_ about him!"

Bill, instead of aiming another kick at the poor teen's stomach, smashed his foot down hard on his leg, not cracking any bones but still causing a scream to rip from Jeff's lungs.

If there was one thing for certain, Jeff wouldn't be able to march- let alone _walk-_ properly for a few days.

"And lastly." Bill panted, brushing some of his sweaty blond hair out of his face, eyes dark and swirling with a slowly fading rage. "Don't even _think_ about running and telling anyone about all this." He gestured to all of Jeff before grinning madly. "Not just because I'll fucking _kill you_ if you make me lose my chance to become drum major, but also because you would have to admit you locked Dipper in a locker and, well. I don't think that would go along fine with your daddy dearest, now would it?"

All remaining color in Jeff's face drained out and he shook his head fast, unable to say a single thing to the demon above him.

Bill, finally, stumbled away from the boy, wiping drool off his bottom lip, blinking fast and wincing at his wounded hand. "Well, if that's all I best be off. Remember what I said, scum."

And without a second glance back at the thoroughly torn apart boy, Bill stumbled back into his car, starting it again and pulled out of the forest and back onto the road.

He glanced at his ruined hand, which sat fat and heavy in his lap, a smile crossing his face.

Dipper would be safe now and that's all that mattered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY SO I got most the chapters of this fic written up actually! All but two! And since the last chapters are actually really short and such and because I just graduated so I won't be doing anything for the next couple of months, I plan on getting them written up within the next few days!
> 
> Since this fic is basically completed, I will update chapters once a week every Saturday hopefully. If I forget or whatever, it'll be posted on Sunday.
> 
> Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Thank you for reading and don't forget to kudos and comment~


	13. I'll Help You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it was only a chapter or two ago since I was thanking you guys for 500 kudos, but 600 is seriously blowing my mind! I cannot believe so many people have liked this silly little self-indulgence fic haha! Thank you all so so much!   
> This chapter is a little longer than all the others so enjoy!

"You like BBQ chips, right?"

"Um, n-not really...I don't really like potato chips…"

Dipper winced, wrapping his arms protectively around his stomach, looking away as his- his _boyfriend_ Bill Cipher turned to give him a look, eyes narrowed.

"Really?"

Dipper winced again at the honest sincerity and confusion in his voice. Releasing the bated breath trapped in his chest as a silent sigh, Dipper gave a small nod, the lie slipping past his lips bitterly.

"Really."

Bill frowned, but still threw the bag into the basket dangling from his thin, tan arm. Stepping away from the pudgy brunet, Bill reached up to grab a small bag of chips off the top shelf. "What about veggie chips? You like them?"

"Veggie chips?"

Bill handed the bag to Dipper.

Dipper tried his best not to make it look like he was observing the nutrition facts on the back with a scrutinized gaze. Calculations flew past his head and he focused hard on the calorie intake. It had to stay under a thousand. It _had_ to. He was to make sure of that.

When Bill had asked Dipper to have a sleepover at his house for the weekend, Dipper hadn't been too keen on the idea- and not just because Bill was his _boyfriend_ now but the fact that he would be with the other boy throughout the night entire night. For hours. For _dinner._

What made it even worse was the fact that Bill had suggested they get snacks for the night instead of a proper dinner. Dipper's gut hadn't stopped twisting uneasily since he had stepped into the grocery store.

He hadn't been inside one for _months._ He hadn't actually snacked really for _longer._

Dipper shuddered, sickening himself at the mere thought of how he would stuff snacks down his gullet, gulping down two bags of chips with ease in a single sitting.

Dipper's arms tightened around his gut, as if to hold his own wretched illness in.

"Pine Tree? Pine Tree, you alright?"

Dipper's worried thoughts shattered at the sound of Bill's soft and smooth voice. Dipper blinked, flushing deeply as he realized how close Bill had stepped towards him, his hand resting gently on his bicep. His hand was warm. Almost too warm in the chilly store.

Despite that, despite how his heart felt like it had dropped into his sloshing stomach acid, Dipper found himself leaning into the touch rather than away.

"'M fine, 'm fine." He said, quickly dropping the bag of veggie chips into Bill's basket. "I like these."

Bill pursed his lips, but said nothing. Eyes glimmering in uncertainty, he wrapped an arm around the brunet's shoulders. Dipper stiffened under his arm, but did not move away.

"Well,okay…" Bill trailed off, turning and leading Dipper down the aisle. "So we got chips, sodas...oh is that beef jerky? Hey kid, you like beef jerky?"

Dipper tilted his head to the side, more than use to Bill's wild change of topic.

"Yeah."

"Original or teriyaki?"

"Um, geeze. Original?"

Bill unwind his arm from Dipper's rounded, bulky shoulders, reaching out with his unwounded hand to grab a packet of original and then a packet of teriyaki, throwing both into his basket.

"Well, that's that! Sodas, chips, beef jerky, and I know I still have some candy and mint chocolate chip ice cream at my house...unless you prefer a certain flavor?"

Dipper shook his head. "No, no. This um. This is all great!" Dipper reassured, giving the blond a watery smile.

A small soft smile crossed Bill's face and the teen wrapped his arm back around Dipper, steering him around and towards the self-checkout registers.

"I'm glad to hear that! I've been wanting to have you over for a little bit now and now that it's happening…!" Bill's eyes sparkled as he practically skipped over to the counter. He reached up to press the start button on the computer screen before wrestling the basket over his bandaged hand, setting it down before he started scanning things. Dipper reached over to help him, only to be batted away.

Dipper stood a few inches away, his eyes caught by the thick gauze wrapped around Bill's hand, his heart thumping hard in his chest.

The memory of a very bruised and wounded Jeff floated into Dipper's mind but instead of feeling fear or even anger at what Bill had done, all that spread from his chest was cool relief.

Dipper sighed, a smile curving his plump lips.

Jeff had deserved it and now, he won't come back to pick on him.

Dipper knew that his train of thoughts were mostly likely quite wrong and he shouldn't be feeling the way he did but well, he couldn't even bring himself to care about that fact.

All that mattered was that he would never be locked up in another locker again and Bill.

Just. Bill in general. Wonderful, beautiful, perfect Bill.

Dipper flushed deeply at his own thoughts, but the warmth did not dislodge from him.

He never wanted it to.

~~0~~0~~0~~

"My mom went out for the weekend on a trip to Portland so we got the house to ourselves!" Bill crowed as he unlocked and opened his front door with a flourish of his wrist.

Dipper's smile was small and watery, but still held nothing but trust as he stepped into the foyer, plastic bags full of wretched snacks in his hands.

"Great!" He said, surprised by his own sincerity. Through the dread bubbling in his gut, there were also clouds of excitement accumulating within him as well. He shivered with the adrenaline bursting through him and padded past Bill and into the house fully as the blond shut and locked the door behind him, muttering something about government nanobots under his breath.

Bill's house didn't look exactly what Dipper had in mind. It was a very plain one story house- the dining room and living room making up a good portion of it while two separate, branching hallways lead to what Dipper could only assume to be bedrooms and bathrooms. A smallish kitchen equipped with enough counter space to only appeal to rats was awkwardly connected to the dining room. Walking over to the dining table, Dipper dropped the groceries off.

"What'd ya think?" Bill asked, gesturing around wildly, making Dipper snort in amusement.

"Well, it's a house." He stated.

Bill pouted, but his eyes still had that sparkle of mirth to show he wasn't really angry. Snorting, Bill wrapped an arm around Dipper's shoulders and steered him away down one of the hallways.

"C'mon! I'll show you my room!"

Dipper laughed as Bill kicked his partially open door wide. Curious, Dipper let Bill lead him into the gold and black room. Posters of aliens and other conspiracy theories crowded the walls and glow-in-the-dark stars patterned the ceiling. Shelves lined with all sorts of odd books- ranging from Dean Koontz novels to children's books to even text books crammed the shelf. Bill's bed spread was black with tons of little alien ships on it. In the corner, was a dining room chair, a music stand, and boxes of what appeared to be different pieces. A flute already put together lazed on the chair.

A small smile graced Dipper's face. Bill's room was just so utterly _Bill_ that he really should have been expecting what was laid out before him.

"Well?" Bill asked, fidgeting a little, "What do you think?"

"It's great! I mean, it's really you-" Dipper flushed, "Um, yeah it's...you know…"

Bill laughed and ruffled Dipper's hair, "Here, come help me get everything out. I can whip something up real quick for dinner and we can watch...I don't know. You've seen _Monty Python and the Holy Grail_ yet?"

Dipper shook his head.

Bill clasped his chest and huffed a dramatic gasp, "Blasphemous! We'll have to fix that then! C'mon," Bill grabbed Dipper hand and dragged him out of his room and back into the dining room.

The two made quick work of the groceries, unbagging everything and throwing said bags into the pantry for use later and throwing the recent away as well. Bill gathered everything up in his arms and lead Dipper into his sky-blue living room, marching over to the coffee table and dumping everything on it.

"You go ahead and sit down. I'll go get some blankets and get the movie!"

Dipper nodded and made a small noise of affirmation, curling up against one of the arms of the couch. The brunet watched Bill dart all around fetching things. He pulled out a number of old patterned quilts from a closet within his range of sight. The pile of blankets far succeeded the top of his head and Dipper couldn't help but laugh at how he careened around trying not to drop any of them or run into anything, which he magnificently failed at.

Bill cursed as he ran his knees into the coffee table, making Dipper's infectious laughter crescendo.

Mouth curling into a wide grin as the light of revenge overtook his eyes, Bill sidestepped the table and with his own crow of laughter, dumped all the quilts right on Dipper.

Dipper's guffaws muffled as a landslide of quilts smothered him. Snorting, Bill jumped onto the couch and flopped on top of the new mountain he had created, careful when wrapping his arms around where he knew Dipper were to be.

"What? I can't hear you!" Bill snickered as he heard Dipper's muffled shouts from the cocoon.

Bill cried out as the mountain beneath him shuddered and he quickly scrambled off Dipper and back onto the couch before he could tumble to the floor.

Tufts of Dipper's chestnut hair appeared before the boy was able to wrestle out of the mess he was in. His cheeks were flushed a deep crimson and though he had a small scowl panting his face, his eyes were bright with mirth.

"Foiled! Again!" Bill yelled, shaking a fist to the ceiling, "By the grand power of the cutest boy in the world!"

"Bill!" Dipper admonished, his blush spreading to the tips of his ears.

Bill chucked at the brunet's expression, his face softening. He relaxed into the couch, motioning for Dipper to do the same.

Dipper did and the blond took the time to rearrange the blankets so they comfortably covered him before standing up to pop the movie in and fetch the remote. Sitting back down again, Bill joined Dipper under the blankets, hesitatingly putting an arm around the brunet. Bill relaxed as Dipper leaned into him, resting his soft, chubby cheek against his chest. Bill sighed, content.

The movie played.

~~0~~0~~0~~

Dipper's stomach was twisting up into knots.

Long after the movie had ended, Bill had suggested watching Disney movies next- something the brunet had readily agreed too.

Unfortunately, not even a rerun of _The Lion King_ could stop Bill from noticing the fact that Dipper had eaten little to nothing at all.

Nor did it prevent the blond from noticing how Dipper leaned away from him the longer the night went on.

Bill sighed loudly, causing Dipper to wince. Fright was pooling in his gut and causing him to tremble if just a little.

Dipper wasn't so sure how he was going to stop himself if the torrent in his stomach could not die down. Despite the heat coiling in his veins, Dipper's skin felt ice cold and the teen struggled to curl up on himself tighter.

Among the issue that was his gut, the biting knowledge of the time and how long he had been wearing his binder was also creeping up on him.

Dipper bit his bottom lip.

Oh, why had he decided to take Bill's offer and sleep over at his house? Out of all the brain-dead decisions he could have made, this one was the worse yet! He knew he knew better, knew he was highly aware of every little thing that could go wrong- the half-formed incidents plaguing his mind and replaying every second. He _knew_ better and yet here he was sitting on Bill's couch, the blond's arm loose around his shoulders, the clock in the other room chiming eleven.

Dipper wrapped his arms around his stomach.

"Pine Tree? Are you okay?"

"C-completely fine-! I- I just…." Dipper's voice trailed off and he tugged at his binder through his shirt, swallowing thickly. He should have taken it off an _hour_ ago.

Bill straightened up completely, "Dipper," He stated seriously, "Is your binder bothering you?"

Dipper jumped at the word _binder,_ staring up at Bill with huge mocha eyes. He licked his lips. A sheen of perspiration clung to his forehead and Dipper nodded his head small and slow.

Bill sighed and smiled softly at him, "You...you can take it off you know. It's...it's not going to bother me or- or anything if that's your issue and if you- you aren't comfortable with it being off around me I can always take you home…."

"No!" Dipper said quickly, surprising both himself and Bill with how loud his voice was, "I- It's fine. Really. I- I just…." Dipper blinked hard, forcing the memories of the scowls plastered across the two people who were to love him unconditionally out of his mind.

Bill stood up carefully and offered both hands to Dipper. Tentatively, Dipper let Bill pull him from his nest of blankets and stand up.

"What do you want to do, Dipper? It's all up to you. I don't want you to be uncomfortable."

Dipper breathed through his mouth and stared up at Bill's face. His eyes were molten, tender and he had a small smile crossing his lips. His fingers rubbed across Dipper's knuckles and Dipper found himself leaning into the blond easily.

"Can you lead me to your bathroom?"

Bill's face brightened, his beam brighter and whiter than the curve of the moon currently hiding behind the clouds. Letting go of one of Dipper's hands, Bill lead the teen down the hallway and to the bathroom, opening the door and turning on the light for him.

Dipper, at the sight of the bathroom, cocked a brow.

"My mom _really_ likes turtles." Was all Bill said.

Dipper nodded, eyeing the garish green shower curtains with said smiling sea turtles curled to the side. A soft carpet covering was over the lid of the toilet, also sporting a sea turtle, and several odd oil paintings were hung on the deep turquoise walls.

"Um, if you...you know...well...need anything, just call for me, okay?" Bill ventured. He gave Dipper's hand one last caress before dropping it. A light blush dusted his cheeks, but his sincerity never wavered.

Dipper gave Bill a slow nod and with a last small "thank you," closed the door.

Once Dipper was alone, he stared hard forwards as he padded over to the bathtub, stepping inside it to avoid the mirror stretching across the wall. Biting his lip, he sighed and very carefully pulled his shirt off. He tugged his pants down next and kicked them to the side and after a slight second's hesitation, took his boxers off.

Dipper sighed deeply, rubbing his sides and frowning at the slight pudge that seemed to bunch under his binder. Taking the top, he flipped it down so the binder was completely unfurled. He gasped as he squeezed his aching gut. Squirming a little, cheeks flushing and heart thumping hard, Dipper carefully slipped his large arms out of the sleeves and started to shimmy the binder down. He gasped in pain as it clutched his hips tightly, cutting his circulation off. Gritting his teeth, he shoved and stretched it as best he could, sighing in relief as the binder let go of his thighs and hit the bottom of the tub.

Dipper shivered as he stepped out of the binder, scratching hard at his arms. Gulping thickly, he quickly moved to pull his boxers back on, forgoing his tight pants to just slip his shirt back on. He shuddered at the feel of the fabric directly touching his breasts.

Dipper held his head in his hand as he stepped out of the tub. Making sure to take his pants with him and place them on the counted next to the sink, Dipper sat on the toilet seat and panted softly. His breathing was looser than before and Dipper took the time to greedily suck up air as much as he could.

Dipper glanced down at the binder his his hands, sighing softly. He shifted awkwardly and with an inward groan, clambered to his feet. Ignoring his reflection, the boy padded over to the door.

Despite the freedom his chest was singing, fresh air filling his lungs completely, his gut was still twisting in all sorts of knots and not just because of the little food he somehow swallowed down.

He was wearing nothing. He didn't even think to bring a bra, not that it would help. It always made things _worse._

Everything seemed to.

Self-loathing boiled in Dipper's heart and he froze, hand on the doorknob, staring forwards blankly.

Dipper slowly reached down to gently prodded his stomach, whimpering softly when he felt the swell of his breast right over his hand.

What would...what would _Bill_ think? Wonderful, snarky Bill? What would he say, try to do with him like this? The worse parts of him so clearly laid out before him, making his mass look even more disgusting, even more lumpy and fleshy and plain _fat_ than before?

Dipper's arms tightened even more and despite no longer having a restraining binder on, he felt more breathless than ever. His eyes dilated and he leaned heavily on the door in front of him.

"Dipper? Are you okay in there? You've been in there for a while now…" Bill trailed off from the other side of the door, concern dripping from every word.

Dipper gulped but when he went to open his mouth to respond, he found his words caught in his chest.

His stomach churned more, the little food he had sloshing against his stomach walls.

"Dipper?" Bill repeated.

Dipper gasped, a hiccup caught up in his chest as pressure built up in his gut. Without warning, he flung himself away from the door, collapsing partially onto the tile. He scrambled towards the toliet, his hands splayed across the lid as he flung it open.

"Dipper!"

Just as Dipper heard the worried voice of Bill call his name a third time, the door unlocking and opening, Dipper shoved his face into the toilet bowl and vomited.

Dipper could not hear anything beyond his own lungs gasping for air along with the weak choking sounds joining the pit of water beneath him along with the little food he had eaten and bitter stomach bile spilling forth from his mouth. He gagged on the bitterness sticking to his tongue and wrapping his hands around the base of the toilet, snorted as more bile came up.

Dipper barely noticed the arm wrapping around him from behind, careful not to touch his obvious chest. A hand moved to brush and hold his hair back and out of his eyes.

Dipper dry heaved as the bile ended sooner than expected. His stomach groaned at the newfound emptiness and Dipper could not tell whether it was in gratitude or newfound hunger.

"O-oh my god Dipper are you okay?" Bill gasped, taken aback completely. His hands shook slightly and as reality dripped back into Dipper's consciousness, so did the overpowering stench of shame.

Dipper, at first, could not bring himself to say anything, the horror in his heart too painful to meander around. Jaw hanging open wide, the stench of bile billowing forth with every breath he exhaled, Dipper found himself gasping _I'm sorry's_ out over and over again. His vision swam and the boy collapsed back into Bill, his limbs much too heavy to move.

Bill's voice was trickling into his ears through gallons of water and Dipper found himself unable to understand the emotions flitting across the older teen's features.

Dipper blinked slowly and followed Bill's lead of climbing to his feet without a thought. Bill proceeded to flush the toilet. Giving the boy another concerned look, Bill lead him out of the bathroom and back to the couch, sitting him down.

The teen nearly jumped when he heard Dipper's stomach growled.

"Dipper? Dipper, what happened?" Bill asked. He chewed on the inside of his cheek worriedly, lapping up the blood welling within the broken flaps of skin.

"I- I just….threw up. It's no big deal! Must ha-have been something I ate it must have been something I ate it's no big deal Bill really it's no big deal-!" Dipper rambled, unable to look at the distraught blond.

Bill stared at the boy hard. Taking Dipper's hands in his own, Bill merely waited.

"Really, Bill. It was nothing."

"I don't believe you," Bill murmured, "That wasn't normal, Dipper."

Dipper flinched at the use of his name.

"When was the last time you ate?"

"Tonight-!"

"Last time you ate and didn't throw up?" Bill interrupted. Worry was gnawing at the blond's stomach and slowly, a horrible picture was being put together before him.

How Dipper never ate lunch, claiming he had breakfast.

How Dipper never ate his snack at the games, claiming he ate before.

How every time he was offered, Dipper would turn down food.

"Dipper…" Bill sighed sadly.

Dipper trembled all over.

_Yesterday. I ate dinner yesterday. Hamburgers. They were good, they were so good. They...they ended up down the toilet like everything else does._

Dipper gasped softly as a pair of arms wrapped around him, his own hands moving to gently hold Bill's hips.

He hadn't realized he had been speaking out loud.

"Pine Tree...Dipper...how long has this been- been happening?"

Dipper found himself melting into Bill's gentle touch, exhaustion suddenly weighing him down.

"I don't know. I don't remember and I- I'm...I'm so tired of this, Bill. I- I just don't- don't want to be fat anymore. Disgusting. I want this to go away."

Bill clutched Dipper tighter. "You are- you are _not_ disgusting. Not at all. Dipper, you're...you're the most beautiful, most handsome man I have ever met in my life. You are perfect."

Dipper pulled away from Bill, sniffling. He stared deep into Bill's eyes. "I know you say that," He started, "And believe that but- but I don't."

Bill sighed and Dipper leaned back into him.

"I know you don't but- but please. Let me try and help you. You're- you're going to hurt yourself if you continue. Please, Dipper."

Dipper peered up at Bill's pained face.

"Okay," He whispered, "Okay. I can- I can try,"

Bill smiled, but it was one more of worry than anything else.

"That's all I ask for."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I didn't update Saturday like I said I was going to! I was uber busy over the weekend but here it is now. Quite the heavy chapter, isn't it? 
> 
> As always, please kudos and comment if you liked it.  
> Thanks for reading!


	14. Whatever it Takes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a transitioning/time skip chapter so all of these are basically a bunch of little drabbles in chronological order

"YOU CAN'T DO THIS STOP IT BILL STOP IT"

Bill's arm tightened around the squirming brunet's waist. He ignored the tears running down Dipper's face, ignored how he trembled in his arms and the look of betrayal that shined so brightly in his eyes.

"Dipper, you know this is for the best," Bill stated firmly. He uncorked the bottle of pills with one hand and with a flick of his wrist, dumped all the pills down the toilet.

Dipper screamed loudly at the sight of all the capsules floating in the water, shoving Bill away from him to collapse onto the floor before the toilet. He hiccuped loudly, unable to catch his breath between his sobs and let out another wailing cry as the blond leaned over and flushed the pills down.

They were gone in seconds.

"I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I SHOULD HAVE NEVER- I HATE YOU!"

Bill said nothing in response to Dipper's delirious screams, merely dropping next to the distraught boy and wrapping a tight arm around his bulbous waist.

Dipper leaned into Bill's touch, gasping, clutching the blond like his very life depended on it.

"You know it's for the best," Bill murmured. He sighed, "You know it's for the best."

It wasn't until Bill's calves were stung with pines and needles when he was given a response.

"I know," Dipper gasped, hiding his face in Bill's chest, "I know."

~~0~~0~~0~~

Dipper sighed through his nose, leaning back into Bill as the blond oh so gently rubbed his sides. He avoided looking at his salad, instead burying his face into Bill's chest. He hadn't been able to eat more than two bites of leafy greens before his stomach started to roll and the urge to run to the bathroom took over him.

"I think I'm going to throw up," Dipper whimpered.

A pair of lips gently brushed across Dipper's forehead.

"Don't worry. I go you. You're going to be fine, Dipper. I promise," Bill murmured.

Dipper sighed through his nose and shifted a little in his boyfriend's grip. Reaching underneath his shirt to pull his binder back over his bulbous stomach, Dipper relaxed fully into Bill's arms, focusing on the blond's hot breath billowing across his chocolate locks, causing them to fly and the weight of his arms around him.

That night, Dipper vomited.

~~0~~0~~0~~

"You know, we should be practicing for contest," Dipper berated lightly as he stepped out of Bill's car. A light, playful breeze ruffled his hair and his gut twisted up with both nerves of where exactly Bill had taken him and the little food that was left in his stomach after his last fit.

Bill had been there- as he always was now it seemed, running his hands through his hair and murmuring encouragements and words of love before helping him clean up the mess left and laying him down, careful not to touch anywhere above Dipper's hips when he was not wearing his binder and holding him till the brunet had slumbered.

"Ah, we deserve a little break I think!" Bill exclaimed, scurrying around the car over to Dipper's side. He took up the other teen's hand happily in his own, rubbing his fingers across the back of it and giving Dipper a slightly goofy grin.

Dipper smiled back at Bill, his eyes crinkling as Bill lead him forwards.

The sky was painted orange and red- streaks of color over the fading blue canvas of the firmament. Wispy cotton candy clouds hung high in the sky, tracing lazy patterns and symbols.

"This is Lookout Point," Bill explained with a small smile.

"Isn't this where couples come out to makeout and- and...you know…"

"Lose their virginity? Don't worry, Pine Tree! I just wanted to bring you here so you can enjoy the view. It's very beautiful."

Dipper relaxed as he stared up into Bill's tender gaze, his fingers still rubbing soothing circles on his hand.

"You trust me, right?" Bill questioned, bringing Dipper over to the edge of the cliff.

"Of course," Dipper replied automatically, tearing his gaze from Bill's too peer out over the town, "Oh, wow," Dipper breathed in utter amazement.

"Beautiful, huh," Bill remarked before dropping Dipper's hand to take off the backpack he had brought. Retrieving a blanket, the blond laid it out over the crabgrass, patting it down and, taking Dipper's hand up again, sat the brunet down daintily before sitting himself down as well. He wrapped an arm around Dipper's waist and Dipper lazed his head on Bill's chest, smiling softly at the gorgeous view laid out before him.

The little town he had been forced to move too looked more like a small playset then an actual town. An ocean of pine trees rippled in the wind, a green wave he had never quite seen before. The old water tower glimmered in the fading sunlight in the distance and the oddly shaped cliffs hanging over the town soaked in the orange light from the sun, appearing to be gilded themselves. The tracks shone black and underneath it all, little shapes came and went with the passing of time, miniature people in their miniature lives fulfilling a day's work.

Dipper sighed. It was so simple- an unremarkable day, like all the others, and yet there was beauty in the simplicity- a beauty that was ignored and long forgotten by people who did not even realize in the first place.

And yet, an unremarkable day was all too remarkable for him. Bill's arm was what seemed to be keeping him from floating away, his presence there during his fits, uncaring of his issues…

And here now, keeping him grounded and his stomach, though twisting, not giving up the rest of what he had.

Dipper sighed.

He was content.

~~0~~0~~0~~

Dipper's knuckles were stained white as he held himself over the toilet bowl, his insides churning. His chest expanded only to collapse at the force of his pants and his eyes were strained as he stared down into the swirling water, the little sick he had vomited disappeared.

Behind Dipper, Bill traced a single hand down his spine, letting go of the toilet handle. He wrapped an arm carefully around Dipper's waist and guided him away from the toilet. The two sunk to the cold tiles underfoot.

"I swore, I don't have any-"

"I know you don't, Pine Tree. I know," Bill murmured, rubbing the boy's sides gently with the palms of his hands.

Dipper hiccuped, trying not to cry. "I thought I was getting better," He sniffed.

"You _are_ getting better. You _are,_ don't let yourself think otherwise," Bill reassured.

Dipper sighed and leaned into Bill. He didn't respond.

~~0~~0~~0~~

Dipper smiled softly as he lowered his tuba. Behind him, Bill clapped wildly and as Dipper put his tuba back on the ground, he was tackled with a wild hug. A nose nuzzled into the top of his head and a sparkling grin shimmered in the dappled sunlight filtering through the trees.

"Well?" Dipper murmured with a smile. He already knew the answer Bill was going to give him, but his heart was still shivering with anticipation.

"No wrong notes, no wrong rhythms!" Bill crowed, pride dripping from his tongue, "I won't say you did perfectly as no one is ever perfect, but that was pretty damn close! I think you got it down!"

Dipper beamed, eyes crinkling in cheer as his whole body swelled with pride of his success. Without thinking, he turned around in Bill's arms and planted a large kiss on Bill's lips.

Though taken off guard, Bill kissed back fervently, crushing Dipper to him and ravishing the brunet's lips.

Dipper panted, killing the kiss as he broke it off, his lungs still recovering from the show he had replayed for the who knows how many times. Cheeks flushed a bright crimson, creeping embarrassment pooling into his gut, Dipper stared up shyly at Bill who merely kissed the tip of his nose.

"You're going to do great at competition. I just know it," Bill said.

"Really?" Dipper asked, hope bubbling in his chest.

"Really."

Dipper's hope did not bubble away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look its actually posted on time wow! 
> 
> Anyways just a time skip chapter mostly with slice of life drabbles. Next chapter will be a normal one, so no worries!
> 
> As always, thank you for reading! Comment and kudos if you liked!


	15. Chicken and Rice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapters from here on out are gonna be p short as I am ready to wrap this story up.

Dipper nervously switched his weight from his left to his right foot, biting his lip as he stared at the cars already parked in front of Bill's home.

Contest was upon them. Two days.

Two days until everything they worked towards crescendoed into a victorious roar of impression, gilded trophies glittering in the moonlight as their faces shone with sweat and tears they had dedicated.

Two days until everything fell and burned, tears and sobs breaking out into a frustrated caterwaul, trophies and congratulatory looks fading away into the dark night as their blood drained away and everything they've worked for comes crashing down in a fiery ruin…

Dipper shook his head. The sound of Stan's wheels had long faded into the distance and yet here he was, still standing before Bill's home, all alone.

When Bill had suggested a party before competition, Dipper was embarrassed to admit he completely protested the idea. He was awful at parties...Bill knew that... yet…

" _It won't be a party like the one at the lake! I was thinking something simple and close. You can invite your sister too! Just me, you, Star, and Tad. Nothing more nothing less."_

Of course, when Dipper had tentatively presented the idea to Mabel, she had jumped on it right away and decided to help Bill get everything together and the two had left in a flurry of shouted ideas and concepts that had been much too fast for Dipper to follow.

They had left him by the wayside.

And Bill had left him to find his own way to get to his house in time.

Dipper trembled and shook his head. He was being ridiculous. So Bill had kinda left him once? So what? He was- was still his...his _boyfriend._

So what? He didn't care. Not at all. He didn't care one bit.

Steeling himself, Dipper strode up to Bill's door, determination seeping from him. Standing in front of the door, he froze before finding the strength to reach up and knock on the door, the noise just a bit too loud for his liking.

Dipper didn't have to brew in his own pot of nerves for long- the door was flung open by a grinning, loony blond, eyes softening and sparkling as they took in his pudgy appearance.

"Dipper! You're here! Finally! I was a little worried since, well, you are an hour late, but that's no biggie."

Dipper flushes as Bill leaned out the doorway, kissing him softly on the nose. He bit his lip, a sudden wave of nausea coming over him, caused by the sparkings of his nerves. He let himself be ushered in by his boyfriend, the door behind him quickly shut and locked.

Bill was nothing but a golden hurricane as he took Dipper by the arm and dragged him into the living room where as expected, everyone else was.

"Look who's here!" Bill gushed, wrapping his arms around Dipper's larger form and nuzzling the top of his head affectionately.

Dipper gulped uneasily, forcing himself not to shove Bill away from him, and stared at the floor, unable to meet everyone else's gazes.

"Hey, Dipper," Star greeted from where she was perched on the couch, right as her partner, Tad, said hello as well. The two blinked at each other warmly and Star proceeded to take a chip out of the bag she was holding in one hand and cram it down his throat.

"Gosh, Dip-Dop! I mean, you're usually the punctual one! How the tables have turned, eh?" Mabel laughed from where she was on the other couch.

Bill dropped his hands from Dipper.

"Don't you even _think_ about flipping my table over!"

"Wouldn't dream of it!"

Dipper blinked owlishly, glancing between Mabel and Bill uncertainly and not bothering to look towards where Star and Tad where. His stomach twisted up into even more knots and the overwhelming feeling of the need to rush to the bathroom slowly took over him.

He didn't abscond the room, however. Rankled as he was, Dipper proceeded to sit down on the floor, a little aways from everyone else.

He didn't see the nervous, confounded glance Bill gave him.

"Anyways, we were just watching _Aladdin._ It's almost over, though," Mabel said to Dipper, giving him a knowing look. "Then we were going to make dinner."

Dipper nodded. "Sounds great," He choked out, ignoring how his stomach spat at the mere mention of food.

"Here, I'm going to get up and get some more ice. You can take my seat if you want, Dippin' Dots," Mabel continued and with a little bounce, stood up and skipped from the room.

Dipper blinked owlishly as he felt familiar arms pull him up and practically force him into the warm spot where Mabel had been. Bill's face danced in his sights and Dipper forced himself not to outright scowl at the blond.

Bill had done nothing wrong. He had just- _he_ was just being ridiculous. There was nothing more to it than that.

Dipper sighed, cursing his bad mood on his own nerves, and turned his attention to the mostly ignored television.

"Hey, Dipper?"

Dipper jumped and glanced over at Bill nervously. He chewed on his bottom lip before answering. "Yeah?"

"Come with me for a minute?"

Dipper nodded and stood up, waving back at Mabel when she flounced back into the room, fresh glass of ice in her hand. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he padded after Bill slowly.

Bill turned down the hallway and into his room, a small nervous smile playing on his lips. As soon as he closed the door behind Dipper, he spun around and gave him a concerned look.

"Are you okay? You're awfully pale and don't look very good…"

Dipper gulped thickly. "I'm fine!" He reassured with a small laugh. "Completely fine! You are are-"

"Pine T- _Dipper,"_ Bill stated. His eyes bore hard into the shorter brunet.

"It's just the nerves. Really, I'm fine." Dipper tried again, looking away from Bill with a roll of his eyes and crossing his arms. "Completely fine-"

"You're lying," Bill said. He put his hands on his hips and narrowed his eyes. "I know you are! C'mon, please Dipper. You've been acting strange since you got here. There isn't anyone here that you don't know yet you act like you have just walked into a wolf's den! What's up?"

"I- I-" Dipper stuttered, biting his lip. He sighed, and turned away. "I don't know!" He snapped, a little ruder than he intentioned. "I feel awful and sick and everyone is just-!"

"Is just what?"

Dipper flushed and huffed through his nose. He chewed on his bottom lip again, uncertainty overflowing his gut. Looking back up at Bill, Dipper saw nothing but raw concern and worry.

Dipper sighed. "I feel like I'm- I'm being forgotten. Again," He admitted quietly.

Bill blinked once, then twice. Slowly, his face fell and his eyes churned in a little guilt.

Dipper's stomach rolled at the sight.

"Dipper…" Bill murmured, stepping closer to the brunet. Slowly, as if Dipper would push him away, Bill took Dipper's hand in his own and rubbed his fingers over his knuckles. "No one is forgetting you. I promise. You know what I decided what we would have for dinner?"

Dipper shook his head slowly.

Bill smiled. "Chicken and rice. No heavy seasoning or anything. Something that hopefully won't upset your stomach too much."

"O-oh."

"I'm- I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable or anything…" Bill tacked on awkwardly.

"No! No, I was- I'm just being a little selfish too. I'm letting my anxiety control me. Again. Really," Dipper reassured. He smiled up at Bill gently. "Thank you, however."

Bill chuckled. "No problem. And if you need to, uh, use the bathroom, just tell me, okay?"

"Okay."

Bill grinned wider and opened his bedroom door, ushering Dipper out of his room. "Now, let's go prepare a nice and light dinner, shall we?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Hope you guys liked it. Comments are always welcome.


	16. Contest

Sweat trickled down Dipper's face as he stood in line. People in matching uniform rustled around him. Not even a whisper broke through the crowd, a thick and heavy cloud of anxiety hanging over all their heads.

Today was the day. Today was the day that would decide if their months of effort, of sweat and tears and blood would finally pay off.

Today was the deciding day and factor.

Dipper gulped thickly, huffing through his mouth and glancing around with a little more than just paranoia on his mind. After fighting with not only Stan and Mabel, but also _Bill_ on the matter, Dipper was faced with the decision that he had to forgo his wonderful binder for the day.

He understood the reasoning behind it. The day was hot, stressful, and unlike practice, he wouldn't have easy access to breaks and water. The last thing he needed was to run out of breath, be too hot, and be unable to go and sit out and recuperate.

Dipper shuffled forwards. He could hear the sounds of parents shuffling in the stands, cheering as the band before them finished up their performance.

He had been practicing for months, just as everyone else had been. Had stressed, not slept well at all, and fought his own uncertainty and fear. Dipper felt as if his heart was ready to burst, as if his skin would just melt off his bone from the hot anxiety boiling in his veins.

He gulped thickly, shifted the sousaphone curled on his shoulders, and continued to follow Tyson. He avoided looking up at the crowed that had gathered to watch them. He refused to search out the judges for the night and their shrewd looks as the band before them left and they were released onto the field.

No, he kept his eyes forwards. He kept his chin up, as he had been told countless times. He made sure his marching was even and sure- eight to five each and every time as he strode across the field.

"Good luck."

Dipper nearly jumped out of his skin as Bill's whisper curled in his ear. He didn't look back at the blond who was already standing at attention in his spot.

However, a small smile did indeed curl his lips.

He gave Mabel a cautious glance and she smiled as well as she stood at attention herself with her flag.

Dipper huffed through his nostrils and, finally, made it to his spot. He stood straight, his lower back already aching. His hands trembled slightly and sweat trickled down his soft cheeks, but he refused to outright shiver under the onslaught of stares given to all of them.

Dipper huffed through his mouth, reminding himself that those people weren't looking at _him_ weren't looking at _anyone_ but the band as a whole.

Dipper's shoulders trembled and as they called for their few seconds of practice before the show, Dipper was terrified of doing anything at all beyond running his fingers through all the scales, playing through the first few notes of the show, and allowing Bill's words touch his heart again.

He could do this. He _knew_ this. He could do this.

Their practice was waved to stop. Them, their director, and drum major was introduced. As percussion started them off, Dipper counted in his head.

Then, he was off.

~~0~~0~~0~~

"Dipper! Dipper!"

Dipper turned, taking another long gulp of water from the cup he was given when he had walked off the field. Pushing his way through the crowd, his shako slightly askew on his head, the black feathers waving side to side.

Bill shoved a few more tired kids out of his way, earning a couple glares and hot looks as he slipped next to Dipper, smiling down at him. "Finally found you," Bill said.

"Hey, Bill," Dipper said, still panting as he finished his water.

Reaching over, Bill grabbed his own cup of water. He drank half of it before giving it to Dipper to sip on. Dipper gave him a grateful look.

"Hey, Pine Tree. How ya feeling?"

Dipper shrugged a single shoulder. "I feel I did well? I mean, I only made two mistakes so!"

"That's great! See, I told you you could do it. And yet you doubted me. Me! Of all people!"

Dipper laughed loudly at Bill and threw his cup at him. Bill tried to dodge it, but it hit his hat and bounced off onto the ground. Bill snorted at Dipper and Dipper shook his head.

"Seriously, though. I told you you could do it," Bill repeated with a smile.

Dipper flushed deeply and grinned widely. "Yeah I- I know. I hope we make it to the next round."

"I'm sure we will," Bill said as their band reached where the buses were parked. "Now, let's go put or stuff down and go get some more water and some food."

Dipper frowned. "I'm not all that hungry…" He shifted in his shoes and looked away. "I don't want to take my uniform off either."

Bill gave Dipper an understanding look as Dipper uncomfortably ran his hand across his flattened chest.

"Hey, you don't have too. I'm sure they'll give us something dry to eat and as long as you drink plenty of water, I'll be happy, okay? Just...at least try for me, okay?"

Dipper glanced over at Bill and gave him a soft smile.

"Okay," He agreed.

~~0~~0~~0~~

Dipper swore he nearly cried when he heard that they had made fourth place and were, indeed, moving onto the finals.

Drinking the rest of his third water bottle down and carefully placing another Lays chip into his mouth, chewing thoughtfully, Dipper waited for the cheers and shouts of excitement to die down before turning towards Bill.

"Can you believe it?" He asked, his copper eyes gleaming brightly under the sun.

Bill chuckled and took a large bite from his sandwich. "Of course I can! I knew we'd make it to finals. We always do. We're just _that_ good."

Dipper snorted and punched Bill playfully in the arm, shaking his head. "You're such an egomaniac!"

"Egomaniac! I am no such thing! There's nothing wrong in being proud of your own abilities."

"Yeah. 'Proud,'" Dipper snorted.

Bill shook his head and wiped his hands off on his black bibbers, standing up with a groan and popping his back. "Well, Pine Tree. Ready to start heading back? They said to go and wait in the buses when we're done."

Dipper used the condensation on his water bottle to clean his hands and took Bill proffered hand, standing up besides the blond.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

Bill grinned.

~~0~~0~~0~~

Though the day had been a hot and humid one, as soon as the sun went down, the wind picked up and Dipper found himself chilled as he sat in the stands next to Bill. Like all the other bands curled up somewhere or another, they were waiting for the final results.

Dipper flicked another cricket off himself and waved a swarm of moths away. Teeth clattering, he found himself leaning into Bill's side as the blond threw an arm around him, rubbing his bicep with the palm of his hand lovingly.

"Well, this is it," Bill said, leaning forwards as all the drum majors marched onto the field. "Time to see what we made."

Dipper crossed his fingers.

One by one, bands were named off. Cheers were had and awards given out. Every second, Dipper felt his stomach drop, expecting their name to be shouted to the heavens.

Every name call, and their band still was not called.

Dipper glanced up at Bill, who was staring hard at the field, teeth clenched. His brows were drawn tightly over his eyes and he almost seemed to be daring the announcers to call their band's name.

"Third place… Gravity Falls High Escadrille!"

Screams echoed in Dipper's ear and before he could react himself, arms were thrown around him and he was crushed into a thin chest as Bill shouted incomprehensibly into his ear. Dipper's slack face quirked into a wide, wide grin and too soon, he was standing up too, hopping up and down the stands himself as he hugged Bill tightly.

"Third! We made _third_ this time around!" Bill said, along with a myriad of other things Dipper could not make out.

"We did!" Dipper shouted back and as they were forced to quiet so the other band's names could be called, he held onto Bill's hand tightly. Dipper's grin was practically breaking his face and before anyone could say anything and before Bill could move himself, Dipper leaned in and pecked him sweetly on the cheek, pulling back and flushing.

"We...We did it…" He repeated, almost in disbelief.

Bill hugged Dipper tightly and kissed his forehead, staring down at the field at the drum major, who was smiling broadly as he accepted the trophy.

"We did."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is rushed as I am ready to complete this story tbh XD
> 
> also the next two chapters are super super short just gonna warn you guys but! this fic is almost done so! I think that's the real good thing here
> 
> Anyways, as always thank you for reading! Kudos and comments are always appreciated!


	17. Try-Outs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super super short chapter. think of these last two chapters like two separate epilogs.

As Dipper paced in the hallway, he couldn't help but glance over at the wall, posters plastered for voting for the next band president covering up the entire wall.

It was hard to believe the year was almost over.

When he had moved to Gravity Falls, Dipper hadn't been expecting much. Heck, he had no expectations whatsoever. The only thing he knew was that Stan and Mabel were now, truly, the only real family he had and that he shouldn't depend on anyone.

Afterall, why should he? Why should he have any hope or expectations or care at all? He was fat, he was too shy, he wasn't _right_ for a number of reasons.

Yet…

There was Bill. Strange and wonderful and weird and intriguing Bill. Who never scorned or looked down on him or anything at all. Whose grin was infectious and eyes bright. Who never failed in making him smile too.

Dipper's cheeks flushed a deep crimson and he glanced over at his band director's office.

_Bill…_

Dipper pressed his hands over his heart and leaned against the wall, feeling it thrum beneath his hands. Who knew any of this would happen at all? That he would actually be able to get into band in the first place, make friends, even… even _date_ someone?

Looking back at it all, Dipper could hardly believe his year.

He rubbed his stomach, looking down at the tips of his shoes. So much had changed in so little time…

Dipper nearly jumped a foot into the air as the door to the director's office opened and Bill looped out of it. For once, he didn't look as if he were on top of the world. No, instead his brows were wrinkled together and his eyes shone in slight worry. His teeth were nibbling at his bottom lip and he didn't say anything as he held out his hand to Dipper. Dipper carefully took it and let Bill lead him into a different hallway. The two left the school, the last bell having rung a long time ago, and Bill walked him over to his car.

"Well?" Dipper couldn't help but ask, shattering the silence between them. "How did it go? What did he say?"

Bill sighed and didn't answer Dipper till they were both in the car.

"I don't know," He said truthfully. "He didn't say much, just nodded and thanked me."

"I'm sure you did great," Dipper reassured. "I can't think of a more perfect drum major than you."

Bill gave Dipper a soft smile and went to squeeze his hand. "Thanks. How about you? Didn't you try out for section leader?"

Dipper sighed and glanced out the window. "Yeah. Tyson wanted me to. I don't know why I would make an awful section leader."

"That's not true! You're patient, kind, considerate, and you're one of the best damn players. Not a bad marcher either." Bill grinned at him and started his car.

Dipper flushed under the onslaught of compliments and gave Bill a watery smile. "Thanks… Still. I'm not sure. I mean, I did try out but well…."

"I'm sure you did fine," Bill said. He sighed and tightened his grip on the wheel. "I'm sure we both did fine. You'll see. Next year, you and me, we'll be on top of the world!"

Dipper laughed. "Well, more impressive feats have been done before this year…" Dipper smiled, remembering the trophy their band had been gifted with at contest.

"Yeah! And this time, it's _our_ time to shine. It'll be great, Dipper. You'll see."

Dipper smiled at Bill. "We'll be great," He corrected. Hope shimmered in his eyes.

"Exactly. We will be great."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I didn't update this yesterday I was never given the chance. Since these two chapters are so short and because I was late and such, I'll see if I can post the last chapter either tomorrow or sometime this week!
> 
> Thank you for reading! Comments and kudos always appreciated!


	18. What a Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last Chapter

"Well?" Dipper asked, tipping his head to the side as he peered up at Bill. A worried frown was plastered across his face at Bill's expression.

Bill sighed and looked away.

"Oh, Bill…" Dipper murmured, reaching out to hug the blond. "I'm so-"

"Now, now, why so sad, Pine Tree? You should be happy for your newest and _definitely_ best Drum Major in the history of ever."

Dipper's mouth fell open and instead of giving Bill a hug, the brunet punched him lightly on the shoulder.

"Hey! What was that for?" Bill pouted, rubbing his arm. He didn't even need to pretend like the punch hurt a little- Dipper had an impressive punch.

"You jerk!" Dipper laughed. He shook his head and rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"What?" Bill laughed. "Did you really doubt I would get the position! Who _doesn't_ love me?"

"Most your section, if I remember correctly."

"Hey!" Bill said, faking being offended. He snickered again and pulled Dipper into a close hug.

"It's going to be a lot of work for you. You ready?"

"I was born ready, Pine Tree. You know how long I've been vying for this position? Like a trillion years!"

Dipper snorted loudly at that.

"Speaking of positions~" Bill sang. "What about you? Did you-?" A grin crept up Bill's face as he saw Dipper's reddening face and growing beam the brunet just couldn't hide. Bill shouted in cheer, wrapping his arms fully around the heavier boy and crushing him close to his body, nuzzling the top of his head. "Dipper!"

Dipper laughed loudly and hugged Bill back, burying his face into his side. Bill moved away a few seconds after, still smiling, and cupped his face gently between the palms of his hands. Eyes sparkling, Bill leaned down and pressed a small kiss to Dipper's lips, one Dipper hastily returned.

The two parted after a few seconds, giggling as they stared around Greasy's for any stares of disapproval for their noise volume or public show of affection. Nothing was sent their way and they two giggles together again.

Bill stared down at Dipper's grinning face, hardly believing how wide his smile truly could be.

"You know, it's going to be a lot of work being a section leader~"

Dipper playfully punched Bill in the arm, causing the blond to erupt in laughter again.

"You dork! Stealing my lines!" Dipper snorted. He shook his head and leaned it on Bill's arm, staring up at him. "It is going to be hard. I- I need to- to start getting better…"

"You gonna tell Stan finally? About…" Bill pointed at Dipper's mostly full plate of pancakes.

Dipper sighed and nodded. "Yeah. Stan will be mad I didn't tell him earlier but...I mean, we already need to go to the doctor's anyways-"

"Why?"

Dipper grinned broadly. "Because I am going to start actually transitioning soon!"

Bill hugged Dipper tight again and gave him another, less chaste kiss.

"Pine Tree! That's fantastic!"

"Yeah! And- and well, if we're going to be doing that anyways, maybe- maybe it's also time I should start therapy. Or at least, try and get myself better before doing that, you know? I- I don't want to be- be like this anymore."

Bill kissed Dipper again. "Whatever you decide to do, I'm behind you every step of the way." Bill pulled back and cupped Dipper's face. "I- I love you. And you are going to do fantastic in whatever comes your way."

Dipper laughed lightly and yanking Bill down, gave him a sloppy kiss full of tongue and teeth, taking the blond's breath away.

"I-I- thank you." Dipper flushed. "I love you too, Bill and- and I am going to do this. I am going to get through this." Carefully, Dipper turned and plucked a piece of pancake off his plate, popping it into his mouth, chewing slowly before swallowing. "And I know I can do this."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thats the end wow! This story is finally finished in a little less than a year I am proud of myself ngl.
> 
> Thank you guys so much for supporting this story!
> 
> I am not going to return to this AU or universe I'm afraid but I hope you guys liked it and I tried my best to wrap everything up in the end more or less.
> 
> I write other BillDip stories too if you want more by the way! I have a couple already completed and 2 that are both WIP.
> 
> Anyways, thank you so much for reading! If you liked this story and have not commented or left a kudos yet, please do now that would really make my day and be fantastic.


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